


Why is Everything at This School Cursed?

by berserkerlord



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Eventual Romance, F/M, Foe Yay, Love/Hate, Slow Burn, Slytherin, Slytherin Protagonist
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-31
Updated: 2018-07-05
Packaged: 2019-05-16 07:30:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 22,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14806985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/berserkerlord/pseuds/berserkerlord
Summary: Johnathon Selwyn has long had an obsession with adventure, one that was encouraged and shared by his elder brother, Jacob. So when Jacob goes missing after being expelled for searching for mythical Cursed Vaults in Hogwarts...well that's basically just asking Johnathon to stick his nose into things. So come join him as he makes friends, deals with curses, and does his best to infuriate a certain purple-eyed Slytherin girl.(Just a story that I decided to work on whilst waiting for my energy to build back up.)





	1. The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship

Johnathon took a deep breath as he heard the bricks shuffle back into place behind him, at long last he had finally made it, Diagon Alley. He was dressed in the typical Hogwarts uniform, although his robes were entirely black, lacking the colored trim that he'd been told would appear when his House was chosen, his short, platinum blond hair rustled a bit in a wayward breeze. To an observer it would have been fairly easy to mistake him for a muggleborn from the way that his forest green eyes were darting about, as if desperate to take in every detail he could in as little time as possible. But while this was his first time visiting Diagon Alley, he was no muggleborn, in fact, he was a member of the ancient, if not necessarily well-known, Selwyn family. Like most Selwyns, he had rather pale skin and a thin, wiry build, although he had been assured that it would not stay that way forever, due to his family's insistence on doing a great deal of manual labor on their own, instead of relying on magical assistance.

His parents had been a bit concerned when he had insisted on not only going alone, especially when he mentioned taking the muggle trains to London, while his family were relatively accepting for purebloods, they still were rather wary of the muggle world. And besides, it was a rather long way from their estate in Scotland down to London, especially since he would only be coming back up to Scotland on the train to Hogwarts anyway, but he had been insistent, it would be an adventure, and he was nothing if not adventurous, just like his brother had been.

His brother, he let out a sigh and his shoulders slumped as he remembered what had happened to Jacob. It had seemed so strange, for him to suddenly be expelled from Hogwarts and then to run away from home. His family, had always been particularly tight-knit, but few had been able to match the bond between Johnathon and Jacob. The two had practically been inseparable, he'd heard that apparently Johnathon had insisted on moving into the same room as him even when he was just a baby, just because he was so excited to have a little brother. And that bond had seemingly only grown over the years, with the two brothers often disappearing into the forests which surrounded their estate, searching for adventure. What exactly 'adventure' was varied from time to time, sometimes it would simply consist of finding the biggest possible trees that they could climb, but other times it involved sneaking into the deepest parts of the woods, hoping to catch a glimpse of one of the unicorns which made their home in the ancient forest, or Jacob secretly teaching Johnathon some of the dueling spells he knew, although they were both careful to only practice the words and gestures with broken twigs that they would pick up off of the ground, and never actually cast anything. The two had shared nearly everything until Jacob, had gone off to Hogwarts. When he had returned, he refused to speak of what had gotten him expelled, or at the very least he had refused to share it with Johnathon, something that had shaken the young wizard to the core. And when he had woken up one morning to find the whole household in a clamor of Jacob's apparent disappearance, he had been so shocked that he hadn't been able to form a coherent sentence for nearly the entire day.

His parents hadn't told Johnathon anything about what exactly Jacob had been expelled for, even though he was almost certain they knew, but Johnathon was nothing if not resourceful and willing to stick his nose into places it thoroughly didn't belong. And he eventually heard rumors floating around that his brother had apparently gotten in trouble for searching for something called the "Cursed Vaults" at Hogwarts. It wasn't much to go on, but Johnathon had resolved that he would find these vaults, and see if they held any clue as to just what had happened to his brother.

Johnathon straightened his shoulders back up as he found himself once again filled with determination. This would be his first year at Hogwarts, and he would find the vaults and learn about what happened to his brother, regardless of whatever obstacles stood in his way.

However, he was soon broken from his musings when he felt a tap on his shoulder, he whipped his head to the side and found a dark skinned boy he seemed about his age looking at him with some concern. He had glasses and his dark hair was slightly unkempt. "Excuse me, you've been standing there for quite a while, are you alright?"

"Huh? Oh yes, find, just thinking. It's the first time I ever got to visit Diagon Alley." Johnathon chirped before looking the other boy up and down and then extending his hand. "I'm Johnathon Selwyn, I'm here to get the stuff for my first year at Hogwarts, are you doing that too?"

The other boy took Johnathon's hand, and yelped slightly as Johnathon shook it vigorously. "I'm Rowan Khanna, nice to meet you Johnathon." He said, rubbing his hand slightly as Johnathon finally let it out of his grip. "And yes, this is also going to be my first year." He said before glancing down the street, which was bustling with young witches and wizards, there was a palpable feeling of excitement and anticipation in the air. "So if this is your first time at Diagon Alley, would you like me to show you around? It can be a bit confusing the first time."

Johnathon positively beamed at the suggestion, a smile lighting up his face. "Absolutely! And thanks for offering. I'd probably get lost if I tried wandering around this place by myself."

"Well, then, the first thing you're going to want to do is get your books from Flourish and Blotts, come along." Rowan said, and with that, the two of them made their way down Diagon Alley, Johnathon following a step or two behind Rowan.

Johnathon sighed as he entered Flourish and Blotts, the smell of paper and ink rushing over him as he and Rowan entered the bookstore, which was filled with students shuffling through books on shelves, the smell reminded him of his family's library back home, although he had never seen books stacked one atop the other back home as they were in the store. He idly wondered if the roof would stay standing even if the walls were knocked down, considering the fact that there were several columns of books that seemed to stretch all the way up to the ceiling.

Thankfully, Johnathon's family had made sure to reserve his order of books in advance. They'd learned from experience that it was much easier to do so then to try and compete with the countless students who were often vying for the same books. Especially after one incident were someone had almost gotten hexed over the last copy of Hogwarts: A History.

He walked up to the counter and coughed slightly to get the attendant's attentions. "Excuse me, miss. I've had books reserved and already paid for, it should be for Johnathon Selwyn."

"Oh yes, let me just check the list of reservations." The attendant, a rather beleaguered looking, gray haired witch, said as she pulled out a parchment and ran her ink-stained fingers down it as she searched for his name. "Ah here you are. Yes, everything's already in order, thank you for your patronage." She said as she bent down beneath the counter and pulled up a small stack of books bound together with a piece of twine.

"Thank you." Johnathon said as he grabbed the books and then joined Rowan, who was standing near the door. "Where to next?"

"Hmm, you should probably go get your wand from Ollivanders, next. I've already got my supplies, but my parents gave me some extra money, and I want to get something that announces to people that I'm a serious, scholarly person on the way to becoming head boy." Rowan tapped his chin before turning his attention back to Johnathon. "What do you think I should get?"

"Already planning on becoming head boy, Rowan? Well, I won't let anyone say you don't aim high. I think a scarf would be a good choice, a proper scarf can make almost anyone look scholarly, and I've been told it can get very cold in the winter, it'd be a good investment." Johnathon said as he and Rowan exited the store, stepping to the side a bit so they wouldn't be blocking the door before pausing.

"An excellent idea, I'll go find a place that sells scarves while you get your wand, I'll meet you outside of Olivander's." Rowan said before turning and heading off down the road, waving to Johnathon as he did so. Johnathon returned the gesture before turning and heading towards Olivander's which he had seen and taken note of when he and Rowan had passed it on the way to Flourish and Blotts.

In contrast to the clamor of Flourish and Blotts or the street outside, when he walked into Olivander's, it was almost entirely silent, to the point that he had almost thought he'd gone deaf before he took a step and heard the creak of the wood beneath his shoes. However, even that relatively slight sound seem to alert someone further back in the shop.

"Ah, a customer, just one moment, I'll be right with you." There was the sound of shuffling boxes and eventually, Ollivander emerged from behind one of the tall shelves that housed some of the numerous wand boxes behind the main counter of his store. His eyes were an odd, silvery color, and his gray hair was bushy and untamed. He moved with a surprising vigor for a man of his apparent age. His eyes lit up as they landed on Johnathon. "Hello, young man, my name is Garrick Ollivander. I assume that you're here to receive your first wand, am I correct?"

"Yes sir, first, and hopefully only." Johnathon said with a happy nod as his eyes darted around the room. "My name is Johnathon Selwyn."

"A Selwyn, eh? Always nice to have one of your family come to me. The hairs you provide from your unicorns make excellent cores." Ollivander said, and Johnathon flushed slightly at the praise. His family took pride in being the only family in the known world that was capable of reliably interacting with unicorns, they'd been doing it for as long as anyone could remember, and were the primary source of nearly all unicorn related products that the wizarding world used.

"It's nothing sir. Besides, it's the unicorn's you should be thanking, we just ask them for the hairs." Johnathon rubbed the back of his head somewhat sheepishly. While he may have been bold when it came to his own achievements, he often found himself somewhat embarrassed whenever someone complimented his family, it wasn't unpleasant, but he would have preferred to be complimented for his own achievements, although he admittedly didn't really have any yet.

"Well let's get you to try out some wands and see which one is drawn to you." He said as he rummaged around behind the counter and pulled out a wand. "Try this one first, Applewood with dragon heartstring core, nine inches in length and quite rigid. Give it a twirl." He said, presenting the wand to Johnathon, who somewhat tentatively grabbed the wand's handle.

He took a step back to give himself some space before waving the wand in a loose twirling motion. Almost immediately, a breeze seemed to rustle throughout the store, sending loose sheets of paper flying before suddenly settling down. That decidedly not, what Johnathon had been intending to do. "Sorry." He said as he handed the wand back to Ollivander, glancing at the now significantly messier floor of the shop.

"It can hardly be helped, wands choose the wizard, and it simply appears this isn't the right one for you. I recall that your brother blew up my favorite inkpot when he first tried out his wand." Ollivander chuckled as Johnathon glanced at him with surprise. "It was easy to figure out you were his brother, he talked quite a bit about you when he came in to get his wand, he seemed quite fond of you. And you like quite a bit like him. Although it's a shame about what happened. I heard he ran away after being expelled, I'm sure that must have been quite hard on you." He said sympathetically.

Johnathon nodded, his mood having deflated somewhat at the mention of his brother. "Yes, I felt bad for him being expelled. But nobody ever told me why. So when I get to Hogwarts, I'm going to find out why he got expelled, and then I'm going to find out where he went." Johnathon said as he clenched his fists, a determined spark in his eye.

Ollivander smiled and arched a brow. "And what exactly are you going to do when you find him?"

"Honestly, it depends." Johnathon shrugged in response. "I'll either hug him until he has to pry me off, or knee him in the unmentionables." He paused for a bit before speaking again. "Probably both."

Ollivander chuckled at his response and then turned and walked down an aisle to rummage through one of the shelves. "I think I know just the wand for you." He said before presenting Johnathon with a box which snapped open, revealing a long, slender wand about thirteen inches in length. It was a very light brown, bordering on tan, and had a smooth, straight handle. "Spruce wood with dragon heartstring, moderately flexible and thirteen inches long. A temperamental combination, it will need a firm hand to keep it under control, but I get the feeling you'll be able bring out the best in it." He said as he placed the wand on the counter.

Johnathon picked up the wand, and almost immediately felt a spark jump between his fingers and the wand's handle when they initially touched. He could already feel a difference as he held it up to examine it. "It feels…right." He said before giving the wand an experimental twirl, a golden light seemed to engulf him briefly before fading and he smiled. "This is the one." He said as his gaze shifted to Ollivander, who was smiling at him.

"I agree, I'll be interested to see what path you and your wand end up taking. Just remember, take care of your wand, and it will take care of you." He said. Johnathon nodded in response before shaking Ollivander's hand.

"Thank you sir, I'll be sure to treat it well, I'll have my family send you the payment, you can expect it by next week." He said before turning and striding out the door, with a newfound spring in his step. He had his own wand! He was now officially a wizard, at least in his own mind.

As he stepped out into the street, he found Rowan waiting for him with a smile on his face, and an odd looking scarf around his neck. It was odd not because it was poorly made, no, in fact it actually looked rather warm and comfortable, but it was probably the strangest mix of colors that Johnathon had ever seen on a single piece of clothing, there were yellow and white and pink and orange and red stripes all along its length.

"What do you think of my new scarf?" Rowan said as he put his hands on his hips and struck a particularly vain looking pose.

Johnathon briefly contemplated just letting it slide, but he couldn't help but let out a snicker, and the way the Rowan was grinning told him that his fellow first year was also quite aware of his new scarf's tackiness. "Rowan, that is hands down, the gaudiest scarf I've ever seen."

"I know, right? It's awesome! I was looking for something smart but it was so tacky, so garish, I just had to have it. It's like a work of art." Rowan said as he flicked one end of the scarf over his shoulder.

"I agree, they should put it in the Louvre next to the Mona Lisa. A testament to the art of ugly scarf making." Johnathon said. "But speaking of recent acquisitions, guess what I just got?" He said as he raised his wand so that Rowan could see it.

"Nice. Is that spruce wood?" Rowan said as he leaned in to get a better look at the wand.

"Yep, how did you know?" Johnathon asked as he cocked his head to the side. Most people weren't all that knowledgeable about different types of wood, but Rowan had identified it with a single look.

"My family owns a tree farm, we supply a lot of wood for wands and broomsticks." Rowan explained. "That's why I like reading and studying so much, it gives me a reason to stay inside instead of going out and farming…well that and the fact that I don't have any friends."

"Well we can be friends." Johnathon said happily.

"Are you sure? You don't think I'm weird? A lot of people think I'm weird." Rowan said, his voice lowering to a mumble as he spoke more and more.

"Rowan, my lad, people say the same thing about me. And in truth, they're probably right. Besides, I'm hardly in a position to judge, my brother is Jacob Selwyn." Rowan's mouth dropped slightly at this revelation.

"Wait, the same Jacob Selwyn who got expelled for breaking school rules and looking for the Cursed Vaults?" He said incredulously, and Johnathon just nodded in response.

"They very same, I've already guessed that everyone's going to think I'm weird because of it." Johnathon seemed remarkably chipper at the thought of being viewed as weird by others, but then again he also wasn't all that concerned with the thoughts of others, after all, he had a mission to accomplish.

"Well then, I'll guess we'll be weird together. What should I do if someone starts giving you trouble about your brother?" Rowan asked.

"Just try and keep it cool, I wouldn't want to go causing a scene. Besides, I plan to get to the bottom of just why my brother was looking for the Vaults, and drawing attention to myself would probably just make that harder." Johnathon said, and Rowan nodded in response.

"Understood, well we should probably make for the train, the Hogwarts Express leaves in a few hours, and I'd like to get a compartment before they all get snapped up." Rowan said, Johnathon slung his arm around Rowan's shoulder.

"Indeed. And I believe this is the start of a most excellent partnership. Think about it, the magic, the learning, the potentially life threatening adventures!" Johnathon said as a spark of almost manic glee danced in his eyes. "Rowan, my good man, we are going to leave a mark on Hogwarts that nobody will ever be able to forget."


	2. Hate at First Sight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes you just meet somebody and you just click, you like all the same things, your personalities mesh well, and you get along famously...Merula and Johnathon are basically the exact opposite of that.

The ride on the Hogwarts Express was, thankfully, rather mundane. Although Johnathon could hardly keep himself from bouncing in his seat once he and Rowan had gotten into a compartment. They had spent most of their time making idle chatter about what classes they were particularly looking forward to. But eventually, when the sun began to set, they ended up drifting off, only to be roused from their slumber by the screeching of the train's whistle, and the sensation of the train gradually slowing to a stop.

"Gyuh, wha?" Johnathon mumbled as he rubbed his eyes. "Oh, looks like we're here." He yawned as he slowly pushed himself up from his seat and stretched, groaning slightly as his body protested the sudden movements after spending so much time asleep.

"I don't think I can quite see the castle from here." Rowan said as he peered out the window of their compartment, Johnathon soon joined him and saw that he was telling the truth, all that he could see were the silhouettes of the trees that surrounded the station, and the star-laden sky above them.

"Well let's get going then, wouldn't want to keep the professors waiting, I'm sure they're on the edge of their seats in anticipation, just absolutely desperate to bask in the glow of our glorious presence." He said, nudging Rowan's ribs with his elbow, causing the other first-year to snort slightly.

"Ah yes, the struggle of celebrity, so many people clamoring for our attention." He said, placing a hand on his forehead in a mocking display of dismay. "Truly, we are cursed." The two of them held each other's gaze for a few minutes, trying desperately to look as serious as possible, before they both eventually cracked, smiles spreading across their faces as they let out decidedly undignified laughs.

"Come on, wouldn't want the train to leave for London with us still on it." Johnathon said as he pulled his trunk down from the rack above their seats. It was a massive, old looking trunk with a scratched, metal lock. But to Rowan's surprise, Johnathon just set it down and then kicked its corner. "Go on, wake yourself up. I was already nice enough to carry you onto the Express, go wait with the other trunks, and don't make a nuisance of yourself." He said, then, shockingly the trunk turned around and…glared would probably be the best word, although Rowan wasn't exactly certain how he knew it was glaring, since it didn't have any eyes. It then began to slide silently along the ground, out of their compartment, and down the aisle in the direction of the nearest exit.

"Uhh, Johnathon, what in the world was that?" Rowan asked as his gaze flickered somewhat nervously back towards Johnathon, as he began to get his own trunk down from the rack.

"You want me to be honest with you?" Rowan nodded in response to Johnathon's question. "I've got no idea." Johnathon said with a shrug as they made their way out of the compartment, and then off of the train. Rowan handed his trunk to some of the attendants who seemed to be responsible for offloading luggage, and they began to make their way to where all of the first years were being herded. "That trunk has been in my family as long as we've existed, or at least for as long as we've had written records of our family. We aren't entirely sure what it's deal is, but it's very loyal, and has so many protective enchantments on it that it borders on indestructible. We think it might be made of Whomping Willow wood."

"Why would anyone make something out of Whomping Willow wood? Even if you actually managed to cut one down, the wood stays animate even once you cut it. I heard that someone once made a broom out of that stuff and it immediately tried to beat him to death!" Rowan said with disbelief.

"No clue, but if I ever find out what's up with it you'll be the first to know." Johnathon said. "Hmm, I wonder what would happen if you tried to make a wand out of Whomping Willow, do you think it would be able to cast spells on its own?"

Before Rowan could expound on what a terrifying thought that was, a deep, bellowing voice rang out all along the platform. "Alright first years! Follow me, we're heading to the docks, so stick together." Both Rowan and Johnathon turned in the direction of the voice and saw and their eyes widened as the caught its source. The man who had spoken was an absolute mountain of a person, he looked nearly twice as tall as a normal man, and several times as wide. He also had a mane of black of black hair and a beard so thick it made it hard for either of them to tell were exactly his face was beneath all of that hair.

"Who is that?" Rowan whispered to Johnathon as they walked along with the crowd of first years through a heavily wooded trail that led towards the lake.

"I think that's the gamekeeper." Johnathon said, still gazing at the man's massive back. "I heard that he was big, but I thought everyone was just trying to trick me. I think they were actually underselling him."

"Alright, get in your boats, and make sure not to rock them." The enormous man said, Rowan and Johnathon eagerly clambered into a boat, and once all of the first years were securely in their boats they drifted away from the docks, seemingly of their own accord, to a chorus of "wow"s from most of the first years. However, Rowan and Johnathon were more transfixed by what lay ahead of them. Rising up in the distance, the towers of Hogwarts were gleaming with countless torches, the flickering lights being reflected in the dark, glassy water, which made it almost look as if there was a mirror of Hogwarts beneath the surface of the lake.

"It's awesome." Rowan said softly, and Johnathon could only nod, this was the place that had caused his brother to go missing, and just by looking at it he could tell that it had so many mysteries to uncover. He could practically smell the adventure, although that might have just been the lake water. When they reached the docks and finally entered Hogwarts, Johnathon was far from the only student who craned his neck up to look at the high, vaulting ceilings, for most of the students, it was one of the most massive building's that they'd ever been in, and seemed all the more impressive due to their own shortness.

"Come along, students, the sorting ceremony is about to begin." A sharp, feminine voice called out from near the entrance to the Great Hall. The woman standing near the entrance seemed rather old, although appearances were often deceiving with witches and wizards, she was a rather severe looking woman and Johnathon almost instinctively flinched when her gaze briefly met his, she reminded him of some of the older, more formidable women of his family, the type who would be kind enough, but could come down like a ton of bricks on anyone they caught misbehaving, he'd have to look out for her.

She led the crowd of first years into the hall, where they were all immediately under the scrutiny of all of the other students who had already arrived. Johnathon glanced at Rowan, and saw the other boy's eyes darting around nervously, feeling stressed under the pressure of so many people. He silently placed a hand on Rowan's shoulder, and smiled at him when Rowan turned to look at him. "We'll be fine." He said softly, and Rowan nodded before taking a deep breath, squaring his shoulders, and turning his attention back towards the front of the hall, where all of the professors were seated at a long table.

"Attention, first years!" The woman spoke up as she took her place next to a stool which had an old, pointy hat sitting on it. "My name is Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmaster of Hogwarts, professor of Transfiguration, and head of Gryffindor House." She then pulled out a scroll and unrolled it. "When I call your name, step forward, and I will place you under the Sorting Hat, which will then sort you into one of the four Houses. While you are at Hogwarts, these Houses will be like your family, they are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. I hope you will all make fine contributions to whichever House you are sorted into." She said before reading down the list. Johnathon didn't really pay attention to any of the names that were called, until she reached one specific name. "Rowan Khanna." She called out, Johnathon patted Rowan on the back a few times, and he somewhat sheepishly walked up and sat on the stool. The hat was lowered onto his head, and Johnathon tilted his head as what looked like a furrowed brow seemed to form out of the wrinkles and folds of the hat, and tear along the brim opened up like a mouth as that hat hummed to itself. He hadn't noticed previously since he had been too busy looking around the hall, but it was fascinating now that he looked at it. He wondered just what type of enchantments had been placed on it, and more importantly, what secrets something that old must have been privy to.

After what was only three or so minutes, but which felt much longer, the hat spoke in a ragged, yet booming voice that echoed throughout the hall. "Slytherin!" It shouted, causing the Slytherin table to erupt with cheers as Rowan removed the hat from his head and took his seat at the closest end of the Slytherin table, blushing slightly as he received some rather enthusiastic claps on the back from his new Housemates.

Johnathon had to resist the urge to bounce in place as his name grew closer and closer, and he could feel his chest tighten with anticipation, and could almost swear that he could hear his own heart pounding away in his chest. But eventually, Professor McGonagall called his name. "Johnathon Selwyn." The hall had been fairly quiet before, but it seemed as if it went completely silent when his name was called, to the point that someone could have dropped a pin at one end of the hall and it probably would be audible at the opposite end. He could practically feel the eyes boring into him as he walked up and took a seat, feeling the worn rim of the Sorting Hat plop down on his head.

"Hmm, interesting, very interesting." A deep, raggedy voice echoed in his mind, it seemed surprisingly quiet compared to the voice the Sorting Hat used when announcing its decisions. "Normally Selwyns tend to be rather simple to sort, but you're quite a bit different. Yes, I could see you doing well in several different houses. Hmm, not Ravenclaw, don't seem like much one for studying or research, no, you'd be much happier out on an adventure. That bravery would do well in Gryffindor. But you do seem remarkably loyal to your friends and family, and that would prosper well in Hufflepuff." The hat continued, Johnathon could almost swear that he felt something rummaging about in his head, although he wasn't sure if it was actually the hat, or if he was just imagining it. "Ah, but there's something buried in here. A rather surprising core of ambition you have, young Selwyn. Yes, yes, now I can see, you've got a fire in you, that bravery and loyalty, both born out of your own ambitious nature. Then I suppose that it better be-" "Slytherin!" The hat hollered, there was a brief pause, as if the other students had been holding their breath and weren't quite sure how to react, but eventually a cheer raised from the Slytherin table, although this one seemed a bit more subdued.

Johnathon removed the hat from his head and stood up, before turning to place it back onto the stool. As he did so, he inclined his head slightly and said a soft "Thank you." And the hat seemed to smile slightly and winked at him, or rather, did the closest thing that it could to a wink, since it lacked any actual eyes.

Johnathon went over to the Slytherin table and sat down next to Rowan. "I'm glad we're in the same House." Rowan said with a broad smile.

"I know, it would have been a shame if we were in different Houses, then you would have never known what it was like to win the House cup." Johnathon said playfully as he nudged Rowan's shoulder.

"Funny, I was about to say the same thing to you." Rowan responded with a grin. "But with the two of us together, there's no way they'll stand a chance."

"Indeed, not to mention, since the two of us joined, I think Slytherin just became the single handsomest House in Hogwarts."

"Naturally, I suppose it's unfair to keep all this natural beauty to ourselves, though." But before the two newly appointed Slytherins, they heard someone clear the throat, and turned towards the front of the Great Hall and fell silent when they saw that the person responsible was Dumbledore.

"Welcome, students! To another year at Hogwarts." The headmaster said, and Johnathon was impressed by how clear his voice was and how far it carried, especially for a wizard of his age. "It makes me proud to see so many new faces here, eager to learn. I hope you all will be a credit to your Houses, and I would like you all to remember, that the House which gains the most House points by the end of the year, will be awarded the House Cup, a great honor. So try your hardest in your studies, but do not forget to enjoy yourselves, I guarantee that these years at Hogwarts will be the most unforgettable experiences of your lives." He said, provoking a round of applause from all the students.

With Dumbledore returned to his seat, food materialized at the plates set along each of the tables, and the hall quickly filled with the buzz of conversation. Johnathon spent pretty much all of his time talking to Rowan. It was while they were engaged in a discussion about just how long it took Dumbledore to care for his impressive beard every morning that they were interrupted by a tall, black haired man standing at the end of the Slytherin House table. Johnathon knew almost instinctively that this was the head of House, Professor Snape, he'd heard horror stories about the strict potions instructor from several of his relatives, including his brother. The remains of the food vanished from the table as Snape spoke up. "The feast has ended. All Slytherins are to immediately report to the Slytherin Common Room." He said, and he didn't even wait for anyone to respond before he immediately strode down the aisles between the tables and out of the Great Hall.

"Well, I suppose we might as well. Besides, I'd hate to get on his bad side so soon in the year." Rowan said as the two of them stood up and began making their way out of the Great Hall and down the stairs that led to the dungeons, where the Slytherin dormitory was located.

"From what I've heard, I don't think that Snape has a good side." Johnathon whispered in response.

When they finally got to the Common Room, they balked slightly as they stared down the long, stone room, at the opposite end were windows that revealed the clear, blue water of the lake. They hardly even noticed that when they stepped into the Common Room, their robes took on the emerald green trim associated with Slytherin House.

"Wow, it's even cooler than I imagined. I'd heard that there were windows that let us see out into the lake, but I didn't think they'd be this big." Johnathon said excitedly as they walked down the steps.

"I can't believe they let you in here, especially after your brother got expelled and ruined our reputation." A third year student grumbled as Johnathon and Rowan walked by him.

Rowan looked about ready to speak up in his friend's defense, but Johnathon held up a hand as he slowly turned his head, only glancing at the other student out of the corner of his eye. "Oh yes. It was my brother that ruined Slytherin's reputation, not the fact that it produced one of the most infamous dark wizards in modern history, and most of his followers, or for its long history of being a haven for bigots who think blood purity is all that matters. Nope, just my brother, he is solely responsible for Slytherin not having a good reputation." His tone was practically dripping with false sincerity which seemed to only embarrass the older Slytherin boy further, causing him to turn sharply on his heel and storm off.

"I thought you said you didn't want to cause a scene?" Rowan asked with a raised brow as Johnathon turned back to him.

"Oh, I won't cause a scene if someone insults my brother or me, after all, why should I care about what some random jerk thinks? But suggesting that Slytherins admittedly tarnished reputation is because of my brother? That is stupidity on a level that must be punished with a thorough and merciless verbal spanking." He said brightly, doing an almost complete switch from the overwhelming sarcasm he had delivered on a few seconds before. "Besides, I'd anticipated someone saying like that, and I had that whole little speech laid out and was just itching to use it. I practiced it in front of a mirror and everything just so I could get the tone right."

"You…practiced it?" Rowan asked incredulously.

"Oh my dear Rowan, you have much to learn of the fine arts of sarcasm and verbal evisceration, but don't worry, you will learn much under my tutelage, my young pupil." Johnathon said as he sat down in a chair near one of the windows, watching as a small school of fish swam by.

"I suppose I do. Oh, I also just checked my time table, and it turns out we have Charms class first thing in the morning tomorrow. I'm sure we'll be able to learn some useful spells there." Rowan said, and Johnathon steepled his fingers.

"I agree, after all, now that I'm here, I'll have plenty of opportunities to try and find out what happened to my brother, and everything we learn will be one more tool in our arsenal. I'll see you in the morning, Rowan, I'll probably spend some more time out here, I want to look around the Common Room a little more before I go to bed."

"Sure thing, I'll see you in the morning." With a wave, Rowan departed, and Johnathon settled into his chair, gazing out the window for a while before he eventually got up. He wandered around the Common Room for a bit, mostly examining the various carvings which decorated the stone walls, but eventually he glanced at the clock and saw that it was starting to get late, and he headed off to bed. Rowan and the rest of the boys that he was sharing a room with were already asleep, their beds arranged in a circle around a metal heater, and Johnathon quickly changed and settled into bed, drawing the curtains on his bed closed, and then quickly drifting off, dreaming of adventure in the mysterious corridors and halls of Hogwarts.

The next morning, Johnathon got up bright and early, quickly going to shower and get dressed before gathering his books and heading for the Great Hall. He'd always had a habit of waking up early, mostly due to the fact that it allowed him to get to breakfast before the rest of his family, and enjoy eating in relative quiet, since any meal which had most of the Selwyn family in attendance was likely to be a hectic affair, given just how many people there were.

After eating he headed up to the Charms classroom and settled into his seat. The classroom was entirely empty, since it was nearly a full hour before class started. He settled in to a chair in the front row on the far side of the room, and opened up his book and began to read it. He figured that he might as well get a head start, since Charms was one of the subjects he'd most likely need to know a lot about if he wanted to search for the Cursed Vaults. Eventually the door creaked open and Professor Flitwick walked in, his eyes widening at the sight of a student already in the class.

"Oh, good morning, Professor Flitwick. I hope you don't mind that I showed up so early." Johnathon said as he looked up from his book.

"Not at all, after all, it's far better to be early for class than late." Professor Flitwick said as he hopped up onto a rather large book so that he could be seen. "Ah, yes, you must be Jacob Selwyn's brother. He was one of my brightest, if most rebellious, students. If you're anything like him, I'm sure you'll do just fine, although I hope that you'll be more inclined to follow the rules." He said, giving Johnathon a pointed look.

"I'll do my best to follow the rules, Professor. But I hope you'll be understanding if something comes up beyond my control. After all, I just can't help myself when I get a whiff of adventure." Johnathon said, and Flitwick smiled ruefully.

"I see you are quite like your brother. I understand that the many mysteries of Hogwarts can be tempting, but many of them can also be quite dangerous, so it will be important for you to keep that in mind." As he spoke, students began to trickle into the class, including Rowan, who caught sight of Johnathon and immediately made a beeline for him, claiming the seat next to him.

"I'm well aware Professor, you can believe that." Johnathon said with a slight grin, while the risk of danger may have put off other students, it only made Johnathon more excited. After all, what was the fun of an adventure if there wasn't any risk involved?

Once all of the students were seated, Professor Flitwick raised his wand, drawing the attention of all the students. "Welcome class, to your first Charms lesson of the year. I am Professor Flitwick, and I shall be your instructor. Charms is a remarkably diverse and useful discipline, and mastery of even some of its simplest spells will improve your life immeasurably. For our first lesson today I will be instructing you on Lumos, the wand-lighting charm. A remarkably versatile spell that can be of great help whether you are delving into dark ruins, or simply looking for a scroll under your couch. Watch my movements, and make sure to speak clearly when reciting the incantation. Lumos." He said, causing the end of his wand to glow with a brilliant, white light.

The class was soon filled with countless recitations of "Lumos!" and even a few occasional sparks as some of the students got close to casting it correctly.

"Lumos. Lumos. Lumos." Johnathon said as he repeatedly flicked his wand, each time producing only a faint glow. "Hmm, I can't seem to get it quite right, what do you think, Rowan?" He asked as he turned to his neighboring Slytherin.

"I think your movements are a bit too sweeping, try to make them sharper and more precise. Like this." Rowan said as he quickly flicked his wand. "Lumos." He said, and then smiled happily as a brilliant ball of light floated just above the tip of his wand. "Ah, I finally got it down."

"Alright, let me try." Johnathon said as he took a deep breath, held his wand at the ready, and then mirrored the movement he had seen Rowan perform. "Lumos." He said clearly, and a mirroring ball of light emerged from his wand. "Nice." He said as he let the light dissipate before casting it again. He and Rowan were the first two to perform the spell properly, but soon enough, all of the students were smiling at one another with matching glows coming from their wands, although they were generally fainter and less illuminating than what Rowan and Johnathon had managed to produce. It wasn't the most impressive spell from a technical standpoint, but it was still the first spell that many of them had performed, and they were all giddy with excitement about learning their very first spell.

"Well done, Misters Selwyn and Khanna, those were some of the best wand-lighting charms I've seen from first year students in quite some time, each of you have earned ten points for Slytherin." Professor Flitwick said, and the glow coming from their wands was almost outmatched by the beaming expressions that Johnathon and Rowan wore.

"Nice work, Johnathon. I studied really extensively to learn it, and you managed to pick it up so easily." Rowan said as he turned to Johnathon once the class had ended and students began to filter out to head to their next classes.

"Well that's only because you provided such a good demonstration. I learned how to mimic movements a lot from my brother when we used to practice wand motions together." Johnathon said as they packed up their books and headed out into the hallways.

"Ugh." Rowan groaned as he pulled out his timetable. "I forgot we had Potions next, I don't think Professor Snape will be quite so easy."

"Don't worry, Rowan, potions is a lot like cooking or baking, so long as we follow the recipe, we'll be fine." Johnathon said as he checked his bag, however when he did so he hissed and turned to Rowan. "Dang it, I think I forgot my book back in my room, I'll go run and get it and meet you in the Potions classroom." He said before turning and running off down the stairs towards the dungeons and quickly darting into the Slytherin dorm. He went to the room he shared with Rowan and a few other first year boys and sighed with relief as he saw that his Potions textbook was resting on his bed. "There we go." He said as he slipped it into his bag. He glanced at the clock and saw that he still had some time before Potions class started, so he decided to walk at a more leisurely pace towards the classroom. However, as he rounded a corner, he saw Rowan talking to a girl. As he got closer he recognized her as one of the other first years, she had brown hair, although strangely enough a part of her hair seemed to be a much lighter shade than the rest of her hair, and she had…were her eyes purple? Yep, as he continued to walk towards them he realized her were a shade of purple, and she seemed to deliberately draw attention to them with a rather large amount of eyeshadow.

When he finally got close enough to hear them, he heard the girl snap at Rowan. "Admit it." She barked, and Rowan flinched back.

"I can't!" Rowan responded shakily, and Johnathon narrowed his eyes in confusion, what exactly could they be arguing about?

"Say I'm the most powerful witch at Hogwarts!" The girl demanded, well, apparently that was one question answered.

"It's logically impossible, I've already made numerous lists of who the most powerful witches at Hogwarts are based on multiple factors." Rowan said, he then yelped slightly as Johnathon placed a hand on his shoulder, before visibly relaxing when he saw just who it was.

"You should listen to the man, he knows his data." Johnathon wasn't entirely certain just how accurate Rowan's lists were, since he'd never seen them, but he wanted to back his friend up, and besides, Rowan seemed like the analytical type. "Besides, you're a first year like the rest of us. If you're talking every witch in Hogwarts then you've got to take the professors into account, as well as the seventh years, sixth years, and so on." He added. "I mean, I'm confident in my own abilities, but even I think I can't beat any of them in a fair fight, at least not yet."

"And just who do you think you are?" The girl said, turning her most withering gaze on Johnathon. But Johnathon had been glared at by his grandmother, who was a master in the art and could probably beat a dragon into submission with nothing more than a steely glare, compared to her, this girl was an amateur.

"He's Johnathon Selwyn, if anyone could claim the title of best witch or wizard of our year, he probably could." Rowan piped up, probably wanting to get back at Merula for her attempt at intimidation. "Professor Flitwick said he's probably got the best wand lighting charm out of all the first years."

"Oh, he really said that?" Johnathon said with surprise.

"Yes, you weren't listening at the time, but he seemed pretty sincere." Rowan said with a nod.

"Well that's very nice of him, I'll have to thank him the next time I see him." Johnathon said with a smile, not noticing that the girl's glare was growing ever more intense at the sight of the two boys seemingly ignoring her.

"Oh, so you're Johnathon, now I know who you are." She scoffed, drawing Johnathon and Rowan's attention back to her. "You're Johnathon Selwyn, whose brother lost his mind, disgraced his house, got expelled, and then ran away from school." She said placing her hands on her hips while a rather smug looking grin spread across her face. "The Sorting Hat should be burned for putting you in Slytherin." This response caused Johnathon to narrow his eyes at the girl and straighten his shoulders. He could handle the rumors and insults about his brother, he'd been prepared for those, but the Sorting Hat had seemed a pleasant enough fellow, for a hat. And on top of that it was a priceless relic from the era of the founders themselves, such callous disregard for such an important piece of history was beyond insulting.

"And just who are you?" Johnathon said as he crossed his arms over his chest and unflinchingly met the girl's gaze.

"Merula Snyde. First year Slytherin and the best witch at Hogwarts." She responded, causing Johnathon to roll his eyes. "I heard the professors whispering about you at the feast, I suppose you think that you're better than me. I should put you out of your misery before you ruin Hogwarts like your brother tried to."

"Put me out of my misery?" He said before turning to Rowan. "Put me out of my misery? Do you hear this girl?" He asked pointing at Merula. "Listen, Meruuuuula." He said, drawing out her name in as patronizing a manner as he could muster. "I don't want any trouble from you, but if you insist on making it I will deal with it. And as for me thinking I'm better than you, well…" He trailed off as he looked her up and down appraisingly. "I can't say for sure if I'm better than you at magic, but if you're like this all the time, then I can at least say I've got you beat when it comes to being a decent person."

"Oh well if you aren't certain who's better with magic how about we settle this right here, Selwyn?" Merula snapped as she stepped forward and he hand dropped down to her hip, where her wand was dangling from a wand holder on her belt. However, before Johnathon could respond, the sound of someone clearing their throat came from behind Merula, and the three of them all shifted their attention to its source, Merula twirling around. All three of them immediately took a step back as their gazes fell upon the stern visage of Professor Snape, who walked over to stand between Merula and Johnathon, although his gaze was fixed firmly on the latter.

"Selwyn, I knew you would be trouble." He intoned, and Johnathon had to fight back the urge to immediately retort, especially when he saw the smug look of satisfaction that Merula got when she realized that Snape seemed to be siding with her.

"Merula was bullying my friend, professor." He said, even though he had to tilt his head back slightly to look up at Snape, he would not allow himself to be intimidated for standing up for his friend.

Snape's gaze flickered between the three Slytherins, before finally settling back on Johnathon. "Get to Potions class, and be thankful you aren't headed to detention." He said, Johnathon nodded tensely and then turned around and patted Rowan on the shoulder.

"Let's go, Rowan, we've got a class to attend." He muttered.

"Thanks for standing up for me." Rowan said once they were out of Snape and Merula's earshot. "I'm glad that we're both in Slytherin, I'd hate to have to try and deal with Merula on my own."

"No problem." Johnathon said, but his mind was still lingering on something that Merula had mentioned. "Why do you think the professor's would be talking about me?" He finally asked.

"I don't know, but we can look into that later. We can't be late for Potions, we're in enough hot water with Snape already." Rowan responded with a shrug.

The two of them quickly made their way to the Potions classroom and set their supplies down at one of the vacant tables. Snape entered soon afterwards and called the class up to the front of the room, where he began to slowly pace back and forth. "This is your first Potions class, and based on the bewildered looks on some of your faces, it may also be your last." He said, and the dryness in his tone gave Johnathon the distinct impression that he wasn't trying to be funny. "Unlike your other classes, this is not a place for grandiose gestures and mispronounced incantations, you are here to learn the science of potion-making, those of you who are lucky and the smaller percentage who are genuinely skilled, may make it through this class unscathed. The rest of you should keep your mouths shut and try not to do too much damage. Today, you will be producing a simple cure for boils potion, something that even the most inexperienced of you should be capable of doing, provided you are not wholly illiterate. I expect perfection, and any failures will be punished harshly, let us begin." Snape said, and the students all returned to their tables. Johnathon and Rowan groaned almost in unison when they were soon joined by Merula.

"You think you're so special, but you're already guaranteed to fail, Selwyn." She said smugly.

"Proud words coming from someone who has to sit with people she claims to hate. What, was nobody else willing to stomach you?" Johnathon retorted quietly as he opened up his book and began to work on his potion. Thankfully, Merula seemed to keep her mouth shut while Johnathon was in the process of brewing his potion.

"Aaaand, done." He said as he finished stirring, he waited for a few moments, and then sighed with relief when nothing seemed to go wrong. "It worked, I just brewed my first potion." He said, trying his best to keep his voice low, although it was difficult to do so due to his excitement. Even if it was a rather mundane potion, it was still the first that he ever brewed, and that was special for him.

"Congratulations, from my research, I learned that not many people manage to get it right on the first try." Rowan congratulated as he glanced over from his own potion, which was still in the process of brewing. However, as he did so, Johnathon noticed a green smoke begin to rise from his potion.

"Wait, what's happening?" He asked as he glanced nervously at Rowan.

"Did you add Bulbadox powder? Because that looks the beginning of an explosive reaction caused by adding Bulbadox powder." Rowan said, his voice wavering a bit.

"Why would I have added Bulbadox powder? That doesn't fix boils, it causes them." Johnathon said before just what Rowan said sunk in. "Did you say explosive!" He hissed, and, as if on cue, his cauldron shattered, although thankfully none of the shards went flying, and instead, the ruined potion spread all over the desk.

"Congratulations, Selwyn, it looks like you cured the table of boils." Merula giggled in a manner that was decidedly less than innocent.

"You should never have been allowed inside my classroom, Selwyn." Snape said as he approached the table and scowled at Johnathon. "Not since your brother have I seen such a reckless Slytherin. Ten points from Slytherin. What do you have to say for yourself?" He asked as he crossed his arms.

Johnathon looked at his shattered cauldron and then at the grinning Merula, and glared at her. "I suspect that Merula sabotaged me." He stated bluntly as he looked at Professor Snape.

"And do you have any proof of this?" Snape asked, although his tone clearly conveyed that he already knew the answer.

"Other than the fact that I know what I put in the potion, and Bulbadox powder wasn't something that I added." Johnathon responded, refusing to be cowed into submission, even by the intimidating Potions professor.

"Well unless you have proof, your accusation carries no weight." Snape responded before turning and returning to his own desk.

"It's only going to get worse for you from here, Selwyn. You should have known that coating your cauldron in Bulbadox powder would make it explode, I certainly did." Merula said, sounding quite pleased with herself.

"What is your major malfunction, Snyde? Not only are we both in Slytherin, so you just cost us all House Points, but that could have hurt any one of us, including you." Johnathon said, feeling angered for the first time since he had learned that Jacob had run away from home.

"I'd rather lose House Points now than have you ruin Slytherin forever. Now there's no doubt that I'm the most important first year, and you're just a disgrace like your brother." She said, and that was what really set him off. He clenched his hands into fists under the table, knowing full well that if he had an outburst here, he'd only get into more trouble.

"Class is dismissed, I've had enough of all of you for today." Snape, said, and students began to file rather quickly in the room, although whether it was because they wanted to get away from Snape or because they could sense the tension building between Merula and Johnathon, it wasn't clear, although it could very well have been due to both, even Rowan quickly packed his things and darted out, although Merula and Johnathon were so busy shooting glares at one another, so by the time they got out into the hall, it was completely cleared of students.

When they rounded a corner Johnathon practically growled as he darted in front of Merula and grabbed her tie, pushing her back against the wall. Even she seemed startled by the turn of events, probably not expecting him to actually be daring enough to lay hands on her. "Alright, Merula." He said, his voice low, although he was leaning in so close to her that she would have no trouble hearing. "I can handle insults to myself, or even about my brother. But what you did in there was stupid. And I can't stand stupid. I'm going to show you what it means to be the best first year. I hope you like the feeling of second place, because that's all you'll be feeling from now on, if you're lucky." He said, before letting go of her tie and storming off.


	3. Who Keeps a Devil's Snare in a Closet?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You know, if you think about it Hogwarts is a bit of a deathtrap. I thought that Harry just happened to have the misfortune of being around during very difficult times, but nope, it seems that they just let dangerous, potentially lethal plants set up shop in random closets in the castle.

Rowan was worried, this was, by itself not a wholly unusual thing, he had a tendency to react poorly to stress, and could sometimes work himself up into a frantic state when worrying about things that were, in hindsight, almost entirely impossible. But in this case his worry was not because of some hypothetical future, but rather because of what was going on right now. Johnathon, the first friend he'd made in Hogwarts and who had stood up for him when he had been harassed by Merula Snyde, had been acting oddly. It had started when he had returned from Potions class the previous week and had been scolded lightly by the prefect, Felix, for losing House points, even though they both had protested that it had actually been Merula's fault, and Felix had even been somewhat inclined to believe them, they couldn't back up their claims without any concrete proof. Johnathon had then spent as much time as possible locked away in a private study room in the dungeons, and as the week had gone on, he'd become more and more visibly disheveled, until by the time Friday came around, his eyes were entirely bloodshot, his hair was messy, his already pale skin had started to look downright unhealthy, and the bags under his eyes were so heavy that he could have been mistaken for a raccoon. That was how he found himself standing outside the heavy wooden door. He raised his hand tentatively and knocked on it a few times.

"Johnathon?" He said, quietly at first, but then cleared his throat and raised his voice once he realized he'd never be heard through the door if he only spoke at a normal tone. "Johnathon, are you okay in there? You've been really worrying me." He said, he could hear a scraping sound from inside the room, like a chair being dragged out of place, and when the door flung open, he recoiled in surprise as Johnathon stepped out, his sleep-deprived eyes were gleaming with a demented delight, as he held up his potions textbook.

"Never been better!" He said. "I just finished reading through all of my textbooks, cover to cover, for the second time today, I've been doing that every day for the last week."

"Merlin's beard, Johnathon, when did you sleep?" Rowan asked, seemingly taken aback by the extreme studying his friend had been putting himself through.

"I didn't!" The blond said, sounding far too happy about the revelation. "At least not for the last two days. But I've done it, I can remember everything, or at least, all the important and significant bits. I'm going to show her, Rowan, I'll show Merula what happens when you have the gall to be stupid around me." He said, raising a finger to the sky before suddenly dropping his hand to his head and tottering back a few steps. "Oof, I feel woozy."

Rowan immediately guided Johnathon over to a large, cushioned chair, and set him down into it. As soon as Johnathon's head touched one of the cushions, his eyes almost immediately shut and his breathing seemed to calm as he automatically fell asleep.

Rowan shook his head slightly as he watched his slumbering friend before turning to leave the room. "You really can be too much, Johnathon." He chuckled to himself, but thankfully, tomorrow would be the start of the weekend, so hopefully, Johnathon would be able to catch up on his sleep.

By the time Johnathon woke up the following day, it was almost noon. He looked down blearily at his rumpled clothes and then glanced into a mirror and almost jumped at the sight of his own reflection. "Good lord, okay, no more going without sleep for more than a day, at most." He said as he then looked around and gathered up his things before heading back to his room. After a quick shower, a change of clothes, and a quick visit to the Great Hall to get something to eat, he was feeling much better.

As he was walking back towards the Slytherin Common Room, he felt a tap on his shoulder, and when he turned around he found a short, rather timid looking Gryffindor boy. "Um, excuse me, you're Johnathon Selwyn, right?" He asked nervously, and looked relieved when Johnathon nodded in response. "I'm Ben Copper, I'm a first-year like you. I just wanted to thank you for standing up to Merula Snyde."

"What, did people really learn about that so fast?" Johnathon asked. He'd expected the rumor about him helping Rowan deal with Merula to spread, since gossip seemed to flow rather freely in Hogwarts, but he hadn't expected it to only take a week.

"Well yes, but I actually knew because I was watching from the end of the corridor." Ben admitted somewhat sheepishly. "I've been following her so that she can't sneak up on me, and if she sees me, then I have a chance to run away." Johnathon was almost tempted to point out that that seemed a bit counterproductive, but Ben seemed to be a bit sensitive, so he let it slide. "She tormented me the entire time we were on the Hogwarts Express. She kept threatening me and calling me a Mudblood." At that, Johnathon's eyes narrowed. His family may have been, mostly, Purebloods, but they were also utilitarian to the core, and the thought of berating someone for their birth offended them on a fundamental, ideological level. After all, only a fool would dismiss someone with talent or other positive qualities that could be useful to them, just because of something as ultimately insignificant as blood status.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Ben." Johnathon said reassuringly, as he saw that Ben had taken a step back, probably thinking that Johnathon had been glaring at him, instead of just glaring in general displeasure.

"She's obsessed with being the best in our year, and thinks that she needs to impose her will on others to prove it. I'm just glad someone is brave enough to stand up to her, I'm certainly not. I still don't know why I got sorted into Gryffindor." He said, visibly deflating at his mention of his own supposed cowardice.

"Ah don't you worry, Ben. I'm afraid of plenty of things too. Being brave isn't about not being scared, that could just as well be stupidity, it's about being afraid, but being willing to push forward anyway. You just need to learn how to do that." He said as he moved to Ben's side and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "And as for Merula, don't worry, she'll be busy worrying about me. I've been studying like a madman specifically so that I can be the best first year, and show her up." He said, pulling a nervous Ben close and stretching his hand out in front of the two of them. "I'm going to best her, Ben, and I'm going to help you learn how to be brave, and then we'll go on countless life-threatening adventures." He said, not noticing how frightened Ben was getting at the mention of something threatening his life.

"Uhh, thanks, Johnathon, but I have to, um, go. I'll see you around." Ben squeaked as he slipped out of Johnathon's grasp and immediately scampered off down the hall. Johnathon waved to the retreating Gryffindor, seemingly oblivious to Ben's discomfort, and then made his way back to the Slytherin Common Room.

When he entered the Common Room, he caught sight of Rowan and Felix who waved him over to a small table in one of the corners of the room. "Hello, Felix, why so excited?" Johnathon asked when he walked over to stand across from the Prefect.

"I just got a letter from Professor Snape." Felix said excitedly. "He sent it directly to the Common Room. It says that he found evidence that your potion might have been tampered with. He asked you to bring a jar of pickled slugs from the Potions' store room, and he might consider restoring our House points. He included some directions at the bottom of the letter. I've never actually been to the storeroom, but they look legitimate enough." Felix said as he handed the letter over to Johnathon.

"I'll go with you, Johnathon, it's the least I can do for helping you save me from Merula." Rowan chimed in.

"Thanks Rowan, you probably know your way around a lot better than me." Johnathon admitted, he hadn't had much chance to explore the castle, due to his constant studying over the previous week.

"He's offering to get back the ten House points you lost, Hufflepuff just recently slipped into first place, and we need those points, so hurry." Felix said, ushering the two of them towards the door.

Johnathon handed the letter to Rowan, and followed his friend as they made their way up, following the directions that were written on the letter until they came to a plain, wooden door at the end of a hallway.

"According to the directions, this should be the door." Rowan said, tapping his chin slightly. "Odd, I thought it was located in a different corridor, but I guess there could be more than one."

Johnathon shrugged as he opened the door, it seemed rather dark, but he and Rowan slipped inside. "Ugh, I can't see a thing in here." He said as he squinted to try and turned back to the door, which had slammed shut. "Why'd you close the door? We could have used the light."

"I didn't." There was a clattering sound as Rowan shook the door handle to try and open it. "It slammed shut as soon as I walked in, and I think it's locked." He said. "You should cast Lumos so that we can at least see a bit."

"I was just about to do that." Johnathon said as he pulled out his wand and waved it. "Lumos." With that, his wand lit up, revealing a mass of thick vines, rather than the shelves of potion ingredients that either of them had been expecting.

"Gah!" Rowan exclaimed as he leapt back. "What is this thing?"

"It's a-" "It's a plant called a Devil's Snare." Johnathon's explanation was cut off by a familiar voice coming from outside of the room. "Some fourth-year Slytherins showed it to me when I first came here."

"Merula." Johnathon hissed.

"It's sensitive to light, if you're really better than me at the wand lighting charm, then you should have no problem getting out of it." Merula said.

"You're the one who locked us in here?" Rowan asked, only to be met with a laugh from Merula.

"Of course, and the one who sent the fake letter from Snape. I told you things were just beginning between us, Selwyn. You should never have laid your hands on me. Someone has to stop you from ruining Hogwarts, and it may as well be me." She said, and soon the sound of her footsteps could be heard, growing more and more distant. Before either Rowan or Johnathon could say anything, the vines shot out and wrapped around Johnathon's waists and neck, dragging him closer to the main mass of the Devil's Snare. He began to wave his wand around, fending off some of the vines that were trying to grab at his arms, while Rowan backed away, pressing himself against the door.

"Rowan! You try and open the door, these things are sensitive to light, so I'll fend it off!" Johnathon shouted, and Rowan immediately began pounding on the door and shouting. As he did so, Johnathon closed his eyes and raised his wand to the vine wrapped around his neck. "Lumos!" He shouted as he intensified the charm, releasing a flash so bright that he could see it even through his eyelids. He could feel the vine immediately recoil and unwrap itself from his neck, trying to escape the light. He quickly repeated the process with the vine wrapped around his waist, and dived out of the way as soon as he was free backing up so that his back was pressed against Rowan's, who was still banging away on the door. Whenever any of the vines started to creep towards either of them, he cast the spell again. He was quietly thankful that the snare didn't seem to be smart enough to try and use all of its tendrils at once, since then he would likely have been overwhelmed quite quickly.

"What's going on in there!" A deep voice bellowed from outside the door. It took a moment for Johnathon to place it, but he soon realized that it was the voice of the gamekeeper. "Get outta the way, I'm coming in!" Johnathon and Rowan immediately darted to the side as the door slammed open and the massive gamekeeper came barreling in. His gaze immediately flickered between the flailing Devil's Snare and the two Slytherins. "Gulpin' Gargoyles, lads, get away from that Devil's Snare, you're scaring it." He said as he picked the two first years up and carried them out of the room, letting the door slam shut behind him

"We were scaring it? I think you've got that the other way around." Johnathon said as he and Rowan were set down the two of them leaning on each other for support. "But thanks for saving us, mister…" His voice trailed off as he realized he didn't actually know the massive man's name.

"Rubeus Hagrid, at yer service. I'm Keeper the Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts." He said with a smile, or at least what Johnathon thought was a smile, it was kind of hard to tell due to his bushy beard.

"I'm Johnathon Selwyn, this Is Rowan Khanna." Johnathon said as he and Rowan finally managed to recover their breath and stand up straight.

"Ah, so yer the one everybody's been talkin' about. Seems trouble runs in your family. Just how'd you end up in there?" Hagrid asked.

"A first year Slytherin named Merula Snyde locked us in there, apparently she doesn't like it when people stand up to her bullying." Rowan said with a frown.

"Really then, well, what're you planning to do about it?" Hagrid inquired as he folded his arms across his massive chest.

"I was thinking of telling Dumbledore, but I don't think my word carries much weight, considering the trouble my brother made, and only Rowan and I saw her lock us in here." Johnathon grumbled. "But I've already got a plan to get back at her." He saw Hagrid open his mouth and he raised his hand. "Nothing violent, I'm not going to sink to her level, I wouldn't use any violence outside of a duel or self-defense. But she wants to be the best witch out of all the first years, and I'm going to take that spot instead."

"That's probably the first time I ever heard someone want to be the best in their year out of spite, but I suppose it's better than getting in a fight with her. But I suggest yeh head back to yer Common Room." Hagrid said and the two Slytherins nodded.

"Thanks again Hagrid!" Johnathon hollered back as he and Rowan rushed off back towards the stairs that would take them down to the dungeons.

When they got back, the found Felix waiting for the two of them. "Bloody hell! What happened to the two of you?" He exclaimed when he saw how torn up Johnathon's robes were.

"I got into an altercation with a Devil's Snare." Johnathon said with a frown as he idly poked his fingers through one of the many holes that the Snare had ripped into his robe.

"How did that happen? I thought you were just supposed to get something for Professor Snape." Felix asked incredulously.

"There was never any actual note from Professor Snape, Merula forged the note and locked Rowan and I in a room with a Devil's Snare." Johnathon admitted as his gaze flickered back to meet Felix's.

"What is with you and that girl? I've seen people get into fights at Hogwarts before, but never so quickly." Felix said.

"If I had to guess, she feels threatened since I told her that I'd take the title of best first year, and she hates that I stood up to her." At this admission, Felix began to tap his chin.

"Well, I suppose if I asked Professor Snape about the letter, he'd be able to confirm that he didn't send it, but we still don't have any proof that it was Merula who faked it. And you and Rowan probably wouldn't be believed since pretty much everyone knows that the two of you and Merula don't get along, especially you, Johnathon." He muttered as he seemed to consider something. "Well, I'll think about what we can do, you'd better go change into a new set of robes and head off to your first flying class. Try your best, and we'll see if you can get us some House points that way, instead." Felix said as he patted Johnathon on the shoulder.

"Understood. Rowan, you can go, I'll meet you at class after I change. Merula will probably be there, if she tries to talk to you, just ignore her, and make sure to stay in sight of other people, especially the teacher, then she probably won't try anything." Johnathon said.

"Sure thing, I'll see you there, Johnathon." Rowan responded before heading off and exiting the Common Room. Johnathon then darted back to his room and changed out of his torn robes, thankfully the Snare hadn't torn holes in any of the clothes beneath the robes, and he had more than enough spare robes to afford losing one. When he was changed, he dashed out of the room and headed towards the school grounds, arriving just in time to take his place at the broom next to Rowan and Ben. The instructor came out, a white-haired woman with yellow eyes. Johnathon idly wondered why some wizards seemed to have such strange eyes when most other wizards looked fairly normal.

"Welcome to your first flying class of the year. I am Madam Hooch, and I will be your instructor. Today we will be covering the act of raising ones broom with magic, those who master this will be allowed to progress to basic hovering." She said as she set her own broom down on the ground. "To summon your broom, hold your hand over it, and then in a clear voice say 'up'!" When she said 'up' the broom immediately shot up into her hand. "Do not be discouraged if you do not succeed on your first attempt. Just keep practicing until you get it right."

"I've been dreading this class all summer." He heard Ben mutter.

"Don't worry, Ben, flying's not too bad. And besides, we're just going to be sticking to the basics for this year." Johnathon said, trying to reassure his timid friend. "Just concentrate on the broom, and nothing else."

"Will you at least promise to catch me if I fall?" Ben asked hopefully.

"I'll try my best." Johnathon promised, he just couldn't bring himself to deny Ben when he asked him like that, it would have been like kicking a small, defenseless puppy.

As soon as class began, the field was filled with the sound of all of the students commanding their brooms to come up, although in most cases, the brooms stayed stubbornly fixed to the ground. But soon, they began to hover a few inches on the ground before falling again. After what was probably his twentieth try, Johnathon glared at the broom held his hand out above it, then snapped his head forward so that he was gazing straight ahead. "Up!" He said sharply, and he almost immediately felt a stinging in his palm as the broom snapped up into his hand. He quickly grabbed it before it could fall again, and then held it in front of him with a smile, glancing at Merula who was silently fuming at the sight of him being the first to successfully get his broom to rise.

Eventually, all of the students had managed it, Merula had actually been the second, apparently having found new determination after being bested by Johnathon. When the class had ended, Ben walked over to Johnathon, a small smile on his face.

"I think that went well. I guess it's not as much of a problem if I'm not actually flying. But I think with your help I might actually be able to get over it." He said.

"I'm glad to hear it, Ben. We'll make a proper flyer out of you, yet." Johnathon said with a grin as he slapped Ben on the back.

"Well, mister Selwyn, it seems you have a knack for helping your classmates get over their fears. Ten points to Slytherin." Madam Hooch said, and Johnathon had to fight the urge to pump his fist, he'd managed to earn back the points he'd lost due to Merula.

"Thank you, Madam Hooch. And I'm sure Rowan also has some books he could lend you on flying, maybe those could help put your mind at ease." He suggested.

"I think those might work, I don't think I've ever heard of someone falling to their deaths while reading books." Ben said with a somewhat relieved sigh.

"Well I'll see you later, Ben. I've got to go meet Rowan in the courtyard." Johnathon said, waving goodbye as he dashed off. Rowan had told him that he'd manage to find a set of Gobstones, and they passed most of their free time that afternoon playing, during which Johnathon realized that Rowan was a very poor player when he was distracted. It was also during this game where Rowan let slip the fact that apparently Merula's parents had been Death Eaters, and were currently locked up in Azkaban, something that Johnathon had made sure to file away for later use. When they were done and had gathered up all the Gobstones, Rowan spoke up.

"Thanks for playing with me, Johnathon. I've never been particularly good at making friends." He sounded rather ashamed of that admission, but Johnathon just laughed.

"We became friends pretty quickly, if you think that's not being good at making friends, then I'd hate to see what would you consider being 'good' at it looks like." He said, and Rowan joined in with his laughter.

"Yeah, but you're a weirdo like me, most people think I'm either a weakling or a nerd." Rowan said with a grin.

"Ah, don't worry about it, that just means they're underestimating you. Nothing's more dangerous than someone who's been underestimated. Besides, it's better to be weird than so average that you're forgettable." Johnathon said with a shrug.

"Oh now isn't this precious." Merula said as she walked up to the two of them, glaring at Johnathon who seemed determined not to even look at her. "I could swear that I'm getting cavities just watching you two. And hello, Selwyn, you seem to be doing rather well after wrestling with that Devil's Snare. But while you were playing with plants, I've been doing some research about your brother." She said, and that seemed to get Johnathon's attention, as he turned to look directly at Merula.

"Oh really, and pray tell, what, exactly do you think you've learned?" He said, and though his tone was sarcastic, he actually was curious, although he knew quite well that Merula would never offer the information if he asked her sincerely.

"It turns out your brother wasn't just expelled for endangering students, after he ran off he was next seen working for Voldemort." Merula said, seeming to take pleasure in how Rowan flinched at the mention of the Dark Lord's name.

"You really shouldn't say his name, Merula." Rowan cautioned.

"I'll say whatever I want." She retorted, only to snap her attention to Johnathon who was just clicking his tongue at her.

"Tsk, tsk, Merula. You really do believe everything you hear. My brother would never willingly work for Voldy. My family only produced one Death Eater, and we immediately disowned him." Johnathon said, feeling completely certain. It was a point of pride for his family that only one of their number had fallen in with the Dark Lord, despite them being a Pureblood family, and he'd often heard several of his relatives say that the one Death Eater that had come from their family was lucky that he'd been caught by the Ministry before the Selwyns could get their hands on him.

"Believe what you want, but that's probably why the professors were talking about you. They probably think you're working for the Dark Lord too." Merula hissed as she stepped forward to get into Johnathon's face.

"Oh, and I could probably say the same about you." He snapped. "But unlike some people, I don't judge people by their family. I don't hate you because your parents were Death Eaters, I hate you because you're a bully who thinks she's better than everyone else."

"You don't know anything about me." Merula raised her voice as she glared at Johnathon, who met her gaze unflinchingly.

"I know that you're afraid that I'm better than you." He said, and Merula promptly drew her wand.

"You think I'm afraid, I'll duel you right here, Selwyn." She said, as Johnathon's hand dropped to wrap around the handle of his own wand.

"Believe me, Snyde, there's nothing I'd love more than to wipe that stupid smile off your face. But you aren't even worth my time." Johnathon said as he slowly let his hand fall from his wand and took a step back and turned his back to Merula. He would have loved nothing more than to get into a duel with her, but he already felt like he was on thin ice, and an unsanctioned duel would definitely not have improved his situation.

"Don't you walk away from me. Flipendo!" Merula said, and before he could realize what was going on, he'd fallen down. He turned his head to shoot a dirty look at Merula. "Learn some more spells and maybe you'll put up a fight, next time." She said before walking away.

"Are you okay, Johnathon?" Rowan asked as he helped Johnathon to his feet.

Johnathon patted the back of his robes a few times to make sure no dirt had stuck to it. "Yeah, just a bit sore, but I've felt a lot worse." He said before looking at Rowan with a determined fire in his eyes. "She's not going to leave us alone until I make her, but I'm going to have to find someone to teach me more dueling spells if I'm going to take her down."

"Hmm." Rowan hummed to himself. "I think I know somebody who could help with that." He said as an uncharacteristically mischievous grin spread across his face.


	4. Duels and Debts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You know, dueling in the middle of a large, open area doesn't seem to be the smartest move when it's such a serious offense. But then again these kids are, like, 11. I don't think there are many people who have made smart decisions when they were that age.

Rowan immediately led Johnathon back to the Common Room, and immediately rushed over to Felix, pulling the prefect into a corner along with him and Johnathon.

"Felix, we really need your help." Rowan said, causing Felix to smile and shake his head slightly.

"I suppose this is about your most recent confrontation with Merula." He said, laughing slightly as the two younger Slytherins looked at him with surprise. "Word travels fast, and you'd be amazed how many people can be watching you at Hogwarts, even if you think you're alone. Wait, that makes it sound a lot creepier than I meant it to be." He said when he saw the somewhat disturbed looks on Johnathon and Rowan's faces. "But I've realized that she really has it out for you, and I wouldn't be doing my job as a prefect if I didn't at least teach you how to defend yourself. Although I hope you realize this is all under the table." He muttered, making sure that his voice was low enough that only the three of them could hear. "Dueling isn't allowed on school grounds ever since the club was shut down, if you tell anyone who you learned it from, I'm going to deny it completely."

"Don't have to tell me twice, it's basically the same rules my brother and I had whenever we told each other about our plans to sneak out to do stuff after bedtime." Johnathon said with a conspiratorial grin.

"Good, then meet me out at the training grounds, all the other classes should have ended by now, so they should be empty. I'll go off first, wait for a bit and then leave, and make sure that nobody follows you." He said before walking out of the Common Room. Johnathon and Rowan spent a few minutes talking about nothing in particular, mostly the results of a few recent Quidditch tournaments, before trying to walk out of the Common Room as naturally as possible, which was admittedly difficult to do when they were also glancing over their shoulders every once in a while to make sure nobody was tailing them.

Eventually they reached the training grounds and, true to his word, Felix was waiting there for them, and the grounds were completely empty. "Good, it seems nobody followed you. Now, I'm going to be teaching the two of you how to duel, but make that you only use it if it's absolutely necessary. Now, do either of you two actually know any dueling spells?" He asked, Rowan shook his head while Johnathon teetered his hand back and forth in a so-so motion.

"I know some incantations and practiced some wand movements, but never with an actual wand, and I've never actually cast them." He admitted.

"Well, luckily for the two of you, Slytherin keeps a secret dueling book in the artefact room. I got it before coming here, so I'll teach you some spells out of it, make sure to consult it if you ever need some more tools." Felix said as he pulled an old, leather-bound book from his bag and presented it to the two of them.

Johnathon reached out to take the book, but when his fingers brushed against the leather binding, images flashed in his mind and he fell down to his knees. "Gaah!" He shouted as he clamped his hands down on his head. He could see them flashing before his eyes, overlapping images of a stairway shrouded in mist, a walking suit of armor, and ice covering Hogwarts, spreading faster and faster until eventually the entirety of the school was encased in it, and a voice ringing in his ears echoing constantly. When he finally regained his senses, he found himself bent over and staring at the ground, breathing heavily and sweat dripping down his face.

"Johnathon, are you okay?" He heard Rowan asked and he lifted his head, seeing Rowan and Felix crouched down in front of him, looking worried.

"I saw…something, something flashing in front of my eyes, and in my mind." He said before describing just what he had seen. "And there was a voice, it was hard to make out, but it said something like 'The ice is here. The vault will open.'"

"That's concerning." Felix said as he tapped his chin. "It could be possible that your brother had these visions to, it might explain the rumors about him going mad. Visions can often make someone who suffers from the appear insane to outside observers. Are you absolutely certain of what you saw?" He asked, causing Johnathon to nod as he stood up shakily.

"Absolutely, it was like watching it from a distance, but I knew what I saw." He said.

"Well, take the book and concern yourself more with learning from it for now. But if you have any more visions, make sure to tell me as soon as possible." Felix said, as he held the book out again. Johnathon hesitated a bit, as if fearing that touching it again might prompt another vision, but eventually he did, his fingers clasping the worn leather as he opened it up. His eyes immediately fell on one of the first spells listed in the book.

"What about this one, Rictusempra?" He asked holding it up so that Rowan and Felix could see it.

"That seems good, it's probably for the best if we start off with something simple." Rowan said.

"I agree, I'll show you the motions, try and conjure it first, then practice on each other to make sure that it's having the intended effect." Felix said, brandishing his wand, and flicking it at a rock, causing a jet of silver light to shoot out and collide with the rock. "Rictusempra is good for a diversion during a duel, after all, most people can't cast very well when they're laughing." He explained before performing the motion again, this time without the incantation so that he wouldn't cast the spell, and Rowan and Johnathon could get a good look at his motions.

Johnathon pointed at a rock, mirrored the gesture he'd seen Felix make, and shouted. "Rictusempra!" A smaller jet of silver light shot towards the rock, but gradually began to lose speed and altitude, until it hit the ground about a foot in front of the rock.

"Impressive." Felix said, a brow raised in intrigue. "You seem to have a bit of a knack for dueling spells."

"Well those were always the ones I was most interested in. Jacob would show me the motions whenever he came home, and I got really good at copying them." Johnathon said with a pleased smile. "But I've got to keep going. I won't stop until I get it perfect. Rictusempra!"

The training lasted for about an hour, Johnathon managed to start reliably casting Rictusempra at about the thirty minute mark, and then he began to help Rowan with his own casting. It was about forty-five minutes into their lesson that they began practicing the charm on each other, soon making one another buckle over with laughter each time they cast the charm.

"Alright, you two, I think that's enough for now." Felix said, stepping between the two once they'd calmed down from their most recent fit of spell-induced wheezing. "Johnathon, you seem to have a talent for this, and I imagine Merula is going to try making more trouble for you eventually. I suggest you ask Professor Flitwick for some advice or instruction, he used to be a first class duelist, from what I've been told. But try to phrase things carefully when you ask him, we wouldn't want him thinking that you're the one who wants to start trouble." Felix said before glancing at the sky, which was beginning to turn orange as the sun sank ever closer to the horizon. "Alright, now run along, you'd better go get yourselves some dinner before you turn in for the night. Trust me when I say you don't want to go to bed hungry."

"Sure thing!" Johnathon chirped as he and Rowan rushed off in the direction of the Great Hall, the dueling book hugged tightly to Johnathon's chest.

The next day, Charms was their final period, and Johnathon chose to stay behind so that he could ask Professor Flitwick for help.

"Is there something you wanted, Mister Selwyn?" The diminutive Charms teacher asked, having noticed that Johnathon hadn't moved from his seat as all the other students had been filing out of the classroom.

"Yes, professor. I heard you used to be a dueling champion, and I was wondering if you would have any spells you could give me." Johnathon asked

"And just why would you want to ask about that? The Hogwarts curriculum already provides extensive lessons on defensive spells." Professor Flitwick said, although judging by the tone in his voice he already had his suspicions about why Johnathon might have been asking.

"I require some…advanced instruction, Professor."

"And just why would that be?" Flitwick asked pointedly.

"Professor, I would love nothing more than to not need any sort of skill in dueling. But I'm afraid that it's probably going to be a necessity in the near future if I want to protect my friends, and myself…" He said before smiling disarmingly. "Besides, I've always liked going on adventures, and a few good dueling charms would probably come in handy in that line of work."

"Hmm, wanting to defend your friends is an admirable goal, but dueling should be used only as a last resort." Professor Flitwick said as he rubbed his chin. "But, I am afraid that you do seem to attract trouble due to you brother's reputation. Very well, I will teach you one spell, the most essential spell for any duelist, Expelliarmus." He pulled out his wand and held it up so that Johnathon could see it. "Watch carefully, Expelliarmus is meant to disarm the opponent without causing injury." Johnathon watched Flitwick's movements like a hawk, trying to commit every subtle twitch to memory as the professor demonstrated the movements of the spell, he then began to mimic the professor's motions. "Hmm, you have a good eye for movement, but try and make the twirling motion a bit tighter." He suggested, examining Johnathon's movements and offering suggestions in motion. After about fifteen minutes, the professor seemed satisfied after Johnathon had managed to do the motion flawlessly twenty times in a row. "Good, you seem to have the motion down, now try it on me."

"On you, professor?" Johnathon asked, even if he knew the professor was an experienced duelist, it was still hard to bring himself to try out his new spell on such a small person, what if he did it wrong and hurt him?

"Don't worry, Mister Selwyn, I've taken much more serious spells than a beginner's Expelliarmus." Professor Flitwick said with a chuckle as he raised his wand.

"If you say so." Johnathon said with a shrug before waving his wand. "Expelliarmus!" He shouted in a clear voice, a jet of faintly scarlet light shooting from his wand and colliding with Flitwick's hand, wrenching his wand from his grip and sending it sailing backwards into a pile of books in the rear of the classroom.

"Haha, very good, Mister Selwyn. Perhaps you might have a future as a duelist." The professor said as he shuffled to the back of the room to retrieve his wand. "But remember what I said, dueling outside of any official competition should only be a last resort. After all, it's impossible to lose a fight that don't get into in the first place. You might also consider practicing with Mister Copper, he's also quite gifted with charms."

"I'll keep that in mind. Thank you very much, Professor!" Johnathon said, bowing deeply to Flitwick before grabbing his bag and darting out the door, and wide smile on his face. He'd been a bit surprised to hear that Ben had a talent for charms, but he supposed that looks could be deceiving.

The following morning, he had Potions, a class which had quickly become one of his least favorite due to the presence of Snape, and Merula's insistence on sitting next to him, he walked into the classroom and took his seat between Rowan and Merula, firmly ignoring yet a verbal barb from the purple-eyed girl. They were working on brewing Wiggenweld potion, which he was quite happy to see, since the dueling book had suggested learning how to make it, since its healing effects could come in handy during duels. He'd already made sure to memorize it flawlessly, and made a show of examining his new cauldron to make sure that it hadn't been tampered with. When he had finally finished brewing it, he crossed his arms across his chest, feeling quite proud of himself.

"Wow, Johnathon! Your potion looks perfect." Rowan complimented as he glanced at the potion.

"It seems to be passable." Snape drily opined as he came over to examine their respective potions. "Miss Snyde's on the other hand is flawless."

"I am aware that hers, is better, Professor Snape." Johnathon said, causing Merula to look rather shocked at his admission that she'd actually done something better than him. However, that look of shock soon changed to one of irritation with his next sentence. "That's why I was watching everything she did while she made it, it will be flawless, next time."

"Hmm, well I suppose you can at least be bothered to learn from your betters, Selwyn." Merula scoffed, only for Johnathon to turn his smiling visage towards her.

"Ah, but if I learn from them and improve where they failed, they shall not stay my betters for long." He retorted in an annoyingly cheerful tone of voice.

"That is enough from the both of you, I will not have fighting in my class, especially from you, Selwyn." Snape said, shooting a withering look at Johnathon. "Now clear your stations, class is over."

"I'm really sorry about that, Johnathon, it seems like Snape also really has it out for you." Rowan said as he and Johnathon left the class.

"Don't worry, it's nothing I can't handle. Although I do wonder what made Snape decide to go into teaching, he clearly doesn't seem to enjoy it." Johnathon pondered, prompting a shrug from Rowan.

"Maybe he just likes tormenting children." He suggested, and Johnathon nodded, that certainly seemed like a distinct possibility, although perhaps 'enjoyed' wasn't quite the right word, he couldn't imagine Snape taking joy in anything.

"Hey, Johnathon, Rowan, come here for a moment!" They heard a voice shout at them from down the hall, and when they turned to look, they saw Felix standing at the opposite end of the hall, motioning for the two of them to come over to him.

"Come on, Rowan, let's go see what he wants." Johnathon said before they walked down the hall to see Felix.

"I hope you two have been practicing, because now it's time to put it to work. I want the two of you to come with me to the courtyard, we're going to have a practice duel." The prefect said quietly. The two first years glanced between each other and nodded.

"Sure thing." They said, almost in unison, before following the prefect through the winding halls of the Dungeon to the Great Hall, up the staircase, and out into the courtyard. They took their place at the far side of the courtyard, near the entrance to the long, wooden bridge that led away from Hogwarts and onto the sloping hill that bordered the lake and the Forbidden Forest.

"I hope you two have used your time wisely and managed to learn a dueling spell." Felix said as he crossed his arms.

"We have, we've both learned Rictusempra and how to brew Wiggenweld potion, and Johnathon told me that he managed to learn Expelliarmus, he's been trying to teach it to me, but I don't think that I've got it quite down, yet." Rowan spoke up, earning an approving nod from Felix.

"I'm impressed, learning the disarming charm in your first year is no small feat. Now, for a proper duel, you should both bow to one another. Depending on the type of duel, you may also be expected to then turn around and walk a few paces apart before turning and beginning when a signal is given, but for our purposes you'll just be starting at the proper distance apart." He said, pointing to two spots on the flagstones which Johnathon and Rowan moved to. "Alright, on three, I want you to begin. One. Two. Three!" With that, Felix jumped out of the way and Johnathon immediately snapped his wand up.

"Rictusempra!" He shouted, sending a jet of silver light careening towards Rowan, who managed to duck under it at just the right time, the light grazing a few hairs on the top of his head.

"Rictusempra!" Rowan immediately countered with a spell of his own, which Johnathon leaned out of the way of, just barely avoiding it colliding with his arm. The duel continued in this manner for about a minute, the two of them trading Rictusempras and dodging out of the way just in time, but eventually an idea came to Johnathon's mind, he'd noticed that Rowan had been growing closer and closer to the fountain in the center of the courtyard, he had even used it as cover a few times, and Johnathon realized just how he could use it to his advantage when he saw Rowan's reflection in the water.

"Rictusempra!" He shouted, but this time it wasn't aimed at Rowan, but at the water in the fountain. The streaking spell collided with the water and sent it flying, a good portion of it splattering over Rowan. Rictusempra may not have had much of an effect on solid objects like stone, but it seemed that the sheer force of it could still move a decent amount of water. "Expelliarmus!" He shouted, a sparking jet of scarlet hurtling towards Rowan's wand which he, his vision being obscured the cascade of water that had hit him in the face, could not see coming. The disarming spell collided with Rowan's wand and sent it tumbling to the ground a few feet away.

Rowan groaned a bit at the realization at what had just happened, although whether he was dismayed at having lost, or by the fact that now his robes were wet, Johnathon couldn't quite tell. "Well, looks like you got me." He said, raising his hands in surrender before going to pick up his wand.

"An impressive display, Johnathon, although I'm not certain your…creative use of the environment would fly in an official duel." Felix said as he walked up to the two of them. "But Rowan, you should probably go change into some new clothes, wouldn't want you to catch a cold. And Johnathon, you seem to have a good inclination for dueling, I think the both of you are ready to defend yourself if the time comes." He said proudly.

"Thanks, Felix, we really appreciate it." Rowan said as he and Johnathon headed back into Hogwarts, quickly making their way to the Slytherin Common Room. Johnathon settled down into a seat near the fire, while Rowan went to go get changed. When he came back, they were about to settle in and talk, but then another student came barging into the Common Room.

"Hey! I just saw Merula picking on a someone in the courtyard!" He shouted, causing quite a few students to perk up and head out of the room. Rowan and Johnathon glanced at each other and sighed before rising to their feet and following the crowd.

Just as the student had said, Merula was there in the courtyard, surrounded by a group of students from all the Houses, and the focus of her ire seemed to be a familiar Gryffindor. "Looks like she's targeting Ben, again." Rowan muttered as he and Johnathon pushed their way through the crowd.

"You're an embarrassment to everyone in our year." Merula snapped at Ben, waving her wand menacingly in his face. "Mudbloods like you shouldn't even be allowed at Hogwarts. Leave the magic to real witches and wizards."

"Really, Merula, making trouble again?" Johnathon said as he stepped forward from the crowd, placing himself between Ben and Merula.

"Well, well, it seems you don't ever learn, do you Selwyn?" She said, with a malicious grin as her eyes shifted from Ben to Johnathon. "Why don't you just make like your mad brother and disappear."

"And deprive Hogwarts of my beautiful face? I'm pretty sure nobody would benefit from that. Even you have to admit I make Slytherin the best looking House be default just by existing." Johnathon said as he flicked a few strands of hair out of his eyes dramatically. His sarcastic boasting drew more than a few laughs from the surrounding crowd. "Perhaps you should be the one to disappear. Maybe you could take the time to learn to be a better person."

"You want to see me go away? Then make me, Selwyn." She said, the two of the glared at each other, seemingly forgetting all about the surrounding crowd, but then.

"If you want to do this here and now, we can, Snyde." Johnathon said, making a deep, mocking bow. "Ladies first, although you hardly have the manners befitting a lady." He said as he straightened up and flourished his wand.

Merula flicked her wand and yelled "Rictusempra!" Just like in his earlier duel with Rowan, Johnathon dodged the blast, and responded with his own.

"Expelliarmus!" He shouted, and the scarlet missile colliding with Merula's hand and causing her wand to fly up into the air, she reached up to try and catch it, and fumbled with it a few times, before managing to get it back into her hands.

"Flipendo!" She yelled, a blue bolt shooting from her wand and catching the unexpecting Johnathon in the chest. It felt like he'd been punched, and he staggered backwards, only barely being able to keep himself from falling.

However, she tried to follow up with another Flipendo, but this time Johnathon was prepared, he darted out of the way of the jinx, and to some surprise, actually darted in to close the distance between himself and Merula. "Rictusempra!" He shouted, and he was now so close that the charm had barely any distance to travel before it slammed into Merula's chest. She immediately collapsed to the floor, wheezing and howling with laughter, and glaring at Johnathon as tears poured down her face, he'd never thought he'd manage to see someone look so angry while laughing their head off. He aimed his wand at her hand and muttered his final spell. "Expelliarmus!" This sent her wand skittering to the ground, and she was far too busy trying to keep herself from collapsing to the ground due to how hard she was laughing to retrieve it.

Merula did, however, eventually manage to overcome the charm's effects and rose to her feet, her cheeks were now stained with dark streaks where they had absorbed some of her eyeshadow, leaving trails of it down her face. "Where did you learn that charm! That's no fair." She said angrily, stomping her foot on the ground. The impressed chatter coming that was coming from the crowd seemed to only infuriate her further. "You can't be better than me, nobody can be better than me!" She shouted as she picked up her wand and stormed up to Johnathon.

"I just showed I was. Now say sorry and stop bullying anyone, and I might consider teaching you that spell." He said with a grin.

"I'll never apologize to losers and Mudbloods." She hissed, only to realize that Johnathon's attention was no longer on her, but it on something behind her. She twirled around and immediately recoiled at the sight of Professor Snape and Professor Flitwick, both of whom looked less than pleased, she actually ended up jumping back to Johnathon's side in surprise. "P-Professor Snape, Professor Flitwick…I-" Before she could try to defend herself, Snape spoke up.

"I suspect this is your fault, Selwyn. Are you aware of Hogwarts' policy on unauthorized dueling." Professor Snape said.

"Yes, professor, I am." He said, some students let out small gasps as they saw him actually straighten up to look Professor Snape in the eye.

"And were you the one who cast the first spell?" Professor Flitwick spoke up, and Johnathon shook his head.

"I was not. You could ask anyone here to tell you." He said, gesturing to the crowd, most of whom nodded their heads in agreement.

However, any comment from Snape was temporarily cut off by Johnathon suddenly draping an arm around Merula's shoulders. "Of course, we both would share in the punishment if it was a duel. But it wasn't a duel at all, just a bit of a passionate disagreement between classmates, nothing quite so serious as an actual duel. Isn't. That. Right. Merula." He said with a smile that somehow managed to seem completely genuine and entirely artificial at the same time.

Merula looked about ready to protest, but then the gaze of Snape and Flitwick fell on her and she seemed to decide that playing along would be better. "Yes, just a little disagreement." She said through gritted teeth.

"Hmm, well then you will still be punished for this…disagreement on school grounds, you will report to the upstairs corridor in the West Tower for your punishment, the both of you." Snape said, before he and Flitwick headed back into Hogwarts, the crowd of onlookers, including Ben and Rowan followed, although they both gave concerned glances at Johnathon, who still had his arm slung around Merula. Once the two of them were alone in the courtyard, she angrily shrugged his arm off of her.

"What was that about Selwyn!" She snapped.

"Now, now, Merula, that's no way to talk to your savior." That comment only seemed to anger Merula more, which just amused Johnathon. "Alright then, let me spell it out for you. Starting a duel on school grounds would mean you'd get recommended for immediate expulsion, especially with so many witnesses and your history of bullying. I just helped you get off with a lighter punishment. You. Owe. Me." He said, punctuating the last few words. "And I'm going to let that eat at you, since I know you're going to hate being in my debt. But don't you worry, I'll make sure to call that favor in by the end of the year." He said with a laugh.

"…I. Hate. You." Merula bit out before storming off into Hogwarts, other students practically jumping out of the way to avoid the enraged Slytherin.

"I know." He said quietly in the now empty courtyard, before he headed off after Merula, a noticeable spring in his step. After all, they had a punishment to get to, and with any luck he'd be able to tease her even further once they got to the West Tower.


	5. Breaking the Rules

            Johnathon made sure to keep his distance as he followed Merula on the way up to the West Tower, he was practically bouncing with every step. He wasn’t exactly pleased with the fact that his duel with Merula had been discovered by Snape, but then again he’d gotten to embarrass Merula, and even better, he’d managed to get her out of trouble. And now, like it or not, she owed him, and he knew it would just tear her up inside. Purebloods, in general, didn’t like to be in debt to others, even if it was something as seemingly inconsequential as owing somebody a favor. For someone as prideful as Merula, well, he figured it would have driven her mad even if it hadn’t been him that she was indebted to. Just the very thought of it caused another smile to spread across his face, oh yes, he was going to milk this for all it was worth.

            He was so distracted by thinking of all the various ways that he could use this new advantage that he didn’t even notice someone tapping on his shoulder a few times, until eventually he was grabbed and turned around. He was immediately jerked out of his daydreaming and found himself looking at a blond girl who was wearing the yellow-trimmed robes of Hufflepuff. “Hello, Johnathon Selwyn. Sorry about turning you around suddenly like that, but you seemed a bit distracted.” She said, giving Johnathon a smile so heart-rendingly sincere that he was almost certain it would have even put a dent in Professor Snape’s heart.

            “Oh, no problem, I was just thinking about…things.” He shrugged and returned the smile. He narrowed his eyes a bit and “hmm” to himself for a few moments. “You’re Penny…” He dragged out the last syllable of her first name as he tried to search his mind for her last name. “…Haywood, right?” He said, feeling quite proud that he’d managed to recall it. He’d heard Rowan talk about her a few times, saying that she was the most popular girl in their year, and looking at her he could kind of see it. She just looked like the type of person you would want to have as your friend, as if she had nary a dishonest or mean bone in her body.

            “That’s right. I just wanted to see the hero who was brave enough to stand up to Merula Snyde for myself.” Johnathon could feel his own chest swell unconsciously with pride at the praise. “Not to mention all of the rumors surrounding your brother.” And just like that he deflated, with a very audible sigh that made it sound as if the air was literally being let out of him.

            “Huh, so did you want something other than just to see me?” He said, and Penny winced slightly, as if she’d recognized her slip-up in mentioning his brother as soon as the words had left her mouth.

            “I wanted to thank you. Hogwarts should be fun, but Merula was making it miserable for everybody else. Especially for poor Ben Copper, I really appreciate how you were willing to stand up for him.” She said, trying to steer the conversation back towards something a bit more lighthearted to take his mind off the mention of Jacob.

            “Well somebody had to do something.” He said, although he knew quite well that his reasons for confronting Merula was due to more than just her bullying. In fact he was pretty certain he would have confronted her even if she hadn’t been bullying Ben, something about her attitude just got to him and really drove him up the wall.

            “True, but nobody else did. Merula may be a bully, but she’s actually really skilled as a witch.” Penny said, although it looked as if it pained her to admit it. Johnathon just nodded in agreement, he could say a whole lot of things about Merula, but she was skilled, he could give her that much. “I just hope that Professor Snape won’t punish you too badly for your bravery.”

            At that, Johnathon just gave her a look practically screamed, ‘we both know better than that’. “It’s Snape.” He said, and that was all he really needed to say.

            “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Penny sighed before seeming to perk up slightly. “Well, let me know if you ever need help with anything, I hear a lot of gossip, and I’m pretty good at Potions.”

            “I will, thanks Penny.”

            “No problem, Johnathon. I’ll see you around.” She said before patting his shoulder a few times. “Oh, and good luck with Professor Snape.” She said, giving him the most reassuring smile that she could muster, before heading off down the hall.

            Johnathon waved goodbye to her before turning and heading up a few more flights of stairs and arriving at the upper hall of the West Tower. He could already see Merula standing near Professor Snape, and looking decidedly uncomfortable, and for a brief flash he almost felt sorry for her, he knew that he wouldn’t ever want to be alone with Snape even under the best of circumstances.

            “Now that Mister Selwyn has deigned to join us, I can discuss your punishment.” Snape said, and Johnathon took a deep breath, he really shouldn’t have expected anything more from Snape, the man seemed to hold a particular grudge against him for the actions of his brother. “Expulsion seems the most logical option.” Johnathon didn’t even flinch at the implication, mostly because he was fairly certain that Snape didn’t actually have the authority to expel either of them, and as he glanced at Merula he could see that she was looking a bit nervous.

            “I had nothing to do with this, Professor. I was just defending myself when Selwyn attacked me.” She protested, although she pointedly averted her eyes from either Snape or Johnathon. He idly made a note of that, it was a laughably obvious tell, especially for a Slytherin.

            “Everyone saw you cast the first spell, Miss Snyde.” Snape retorted, but his gaze flickered to Johnathon to preempt any look of satisfaction or gloating. “However, this does not excuse your behavior either, Mister Selwyn. Since you have arrived, you have fought in the corridor, made a mess of my classroom, and dueled on school grounds. All this after the damage your brother did to Hogwarts.” At that, Johnathon had bite back the urge to retort, and clenched his right hand into a fist so hard that he could feel his nails biting into the skin of his palm, as if physically trying to restrain himself. “Why shouldn’t you receive the harshest punishments for your actions, Selwyn.”

            Johnathon was silent as he stared up at Snape, as if he was trying to stare a hole through the Potions teacher. “I…” He took a deep breath to try and calm himself, he wouldn’t help his situation by trying to argue with Snape. “Am sorry for causing trouble, Professor.” Snape arched a brow in what was probably the closest that he could come to surprise, although the rest of his expression remained stony and unreadable.

            “Hmm, well it seems you are not, perhaps, completely impudent. But regardless, you both attacked one another on school grounds with wands. Expulsion would be the logical punishment.” Snape let the threat linger in the air, but Johnathon could already hear the ‘but’ coming. “But it appears that the Headmaster is not being logical, and has expressed the view that expulsion would be unfair in this case.” He said, the word ‘unfair’ practically dripping with something that, while not outright contempt or disrespect, was fairly close to it. “And if either of you are caught dueling on school ground again, I’m certain you will not be so fortunate.” Before Snape could continue with his threat of future punishment, an older, balding man with long gray hair, and an unkempt, scruffy beard came up behind him, Argus Filch. Johnathon had seen the caretaker around in the hallways before, and every time he’d made sure to avoid walking too close, for fear of attracting his attention, even when he wasn’t doing anything wrong he felt as if Filch would find a way to pin some sort of infraction on him, although he could at least say that Filch didn’t do it because of his brother’s reputation, he just seemed to enjoy making the lives of the students just a little worse. “What is it, Mister Filch?” Snape said as he turned around, as if he already knew who it was before even seeing him.

            “Professor Snape, you must come with me right away.” Filch said, before lowering his voice. “It’s about the…vaults.” He said, and despite his best efforts, Johnathon still heard the word quite clearly, and judging by the way that Merula stiffened, she had too.

            “Return to the Slytherin Common Room, we will finish this discussion later.” Snape turned his head to address Johnathon and Merula, before walking off with Filch, with a slightly quicker gait than normal.

            “They have to be talking about the cursed vaults.” Merula said triumphantly, before almost immediately setting off after the two.

            “A true master of deduction, that one.” Johnathon said to himself, rolling his eyes, before suddenly realizing something. “Wait, why would she care about the cursed vaults?” He muttered, before watching as Merula went further and further down the corridor. “No way is she going to learn anything before me.” He said as he set off after her. He eventually saw her slip through a rather unremarkable door, and when he followed her inside, he saw Snape and Filch about halfway down the corridor, near a wooden door. Merula was standing behind a column protruding from the wall, peering out just far enough to look at them. He crept up behind her and leaned forward, so that his face was just outside of her peripheral vision, and yet even without seeing him, she stiffened, her eyes stayed fixed firmly on Snape and Filch, but it was if she could sense his presence.

            “Get out of here.” She hissed as loudly as she dared, and Johnathon grinned like a cat that had just managed to corner a mouse.

            “Shhh, listen.” He whispered, his breath tickling her ear. He saw her arm go stiff and bend so that her elbow was pointed, as if she was considering just driving it back and into his stomach. “Now, now, Merula, wizards don’t get physical.” He muttered, his grin growing even wider as he saw her grit her teeth together. Avoiding physical altercations was yet another pureblood tradition, after all that would have been ‘behaving like a muggle’, and while he couldn’t rely on Merula for much, he could certainly depend upon her to behave like a ‘proper pureblood’ if reminded.

            Once they had both quieted down they could hear Snape’s voice float towards them, echoing off the empty walls of the corridor. “Who else knows about this?” He asked Filch.

            “Only me and Mrs Norris saw the ice, sir. Was going to report the incident to the Headmaster, I was.” Filch responded, idly stroking a cat that he was carrying in his arm. It was a rather old, ragged looking thing, but with piercing yellow eyes that almost seemed to glow like miniature lamps.

            “I will inform Professor Dumbledore. This may have something to do with the Selwyn situation.” Snape responded, cutting off the caretaker before he could depart for the door.

            “Is it true that the vaults are filled with gold, prophecies, and artifacts from before Hogwarts existed?” Filch asked, a glimmer of barely disguised greed in his voice. “And that’s why the Selwyn boy lost his mind trying to find them?” At the mention of Jacob, Johnathon perked up, leaning forward even farther to try and hear better, causing Merula to scowl at him as this meant that he was drawing even closer to her.

            “Don’t worry about what is inside the vaults, worry about keeping everyone out.” Snape said as he folded his arms across his chest. “Lock this door, and keep it guarded.”

            “What is the ‘Selwyn situation’?” Johnathon muttered under his breath.

            “Who cares? This is another clue to the cursed vaults.” Merula retorted, and Johnathon finally turned to look towards her.

            “You think they’re real? And you’re trying to find them? Last time I checked you called my brother mad for trying the exact same thing.” He said, glaring at her.

            “Even if I wanted to explain it to an idiot like you, I wouldn’t do it here, and risk getting caught by Snape and Filch. Now get out of my way.” She said, slipping away from him and out of the door that led back to the main hallway, Johnathon glanced back towards Snape and Filch, and then followed suit, he’d learned all that he could for now.

 

* * *

 

            Johnathon immediately made his way to the Great Hall, where he found Rowan sitting at the far end of the Slytherin table, flipping through a book and seemingly waiting for him. He made his way over and sat across from Rowan, who seemed quite engrossed in what he was reading until Johnathon cleared his throat, and Rowan suddenly jolted, but brightened up upon seeing Johnathon.

            “Are you alright, Johnathon? How bad was the punishment Snape gave you. Oh Merlin, he didn’t expel you did he?” Rowan said his eyes widening fearfully as his imagination began to run wild.

            “Nah, he can’t do that, he’s not Headmaster. But he didn’t even punish me, he got distracted, and you’ll never guess what it was. Filch dragged Snape off to a side corridor, Merula and I followed them, and I heard them talking about ice and vaults. They said that it had something to do with ‘the Selwyn Situation’. He also told Filch to keep an eye on a door in the corridor.” He said, using airquotes to emphasize what he’d heard. He made sure to keep his voice as low as possible so that only Rowan would be able to hear.

            “Hmm, I don’t understand, and I pride myself on understanding things.” Rowan said as he rubbed his chin.

            “Neeeeerrrrd.” Johnathon practically sang with a grin, before wincing as Rowan gave his shin a kick underneath the table. “Gah, okay, okay, I get it. But I don’t really get it either. But hopefully we can solve it together…with the assistance of your giant nerd brain.” He said with a grin, letting out a grin as Rowan kick his other shin this time.

            “I’m sorry, who’s the one who read all the textbooks, multiple times?” Rowan asked nonchalantly.

            “Okay, I see your point.” Johnathon admitted as he idly rubbed one of his shins.

            “But what do you think that all this could mean?” Rowan asked when they finally finished their dinner, Johnathon just shrugged in response.

            “I’m not really sure, but it has something to do with the cursed vaults, and me, or possibly my brother.” He replied. “I have to investigate that corridor.”

            “You mean we. Let’s head up there tonight once everybody’s asleep.” Rowan said, grinning when he saw Johnathon’s brows raise. “No way I’m letting you go up there alone.”

 

* * *

 

            It was surprisingly easy to sneak out of the Slytherin dormitory once everybody was asleep, but even the prefects had to go to bed at some point. Once they were out it was fairly simple to go up to the West Tower and into the corridor where Johnathon had seen Snape and Filch talking.

            “This is where Snape and Filch were talking.” Johnathon whispered to Rowan, even though there was nobody else in the corridor, it just felt more appropriate to whisper.

            “I’m having some second thoughts about this, Johnathon. If Snape told Filch to stay on guard, then he’ll probably be back soon. I’ve heard about how he punishes students, and those stories make Snape seem like a pleasant Hufflepuff.” Rowan said nervously, his eyes darting between the two ends of the corridor. “Are you really certain we should be looking around here?”  
            “Have some faith, Rowan, we’re just checking things out. Just keep your eyes peeled, and we’ll be back in the dorms before you know it.” Johnathon reassured as he crept closer to the door.

            “Alright, I’ll trust you on this. Besides, it’s kind of exciting to be doing this sort of thing.” Johnathon promptly shushed Rowan and pulled him behind one of the columns, he’d heard a vague, ghostly noise echoing down towards them.  
            “Did you hear someone at the end of the corridor too?” He whispered anxiously, and Rowan nodded.

            “I definitely heard something. Based on my research there are at least twenty one different entities that could be roaming the corridor at night, each one potentially terrifying.” He rattled off nervously.

            Johnathon paused for a few seconds as he considered the options, sneaking out had been fairly easy, but for all he knew they might have gotten lucky, there might not be another chance like this one for a while. “We look around quickly, then we get out as fast as possible.” He said, peering out from behind the column to make sure that there was nothing approaching them. “Let’s hope that it’s not coming this way.”

            They approached the door and began searching it and its proximity, unfortunately it seemed that it had been locked. “We need to find either a key or a spell for this.” Johnathon muttered to himself.

            Rowan crouched down and pressed his hand against the crack at the bottom of the door. His eyes widened and he motioned for Johnathon to join him. “Feel this, it’s freezing.” He said, and when Johnathon pressed his hand to the same spot he realized Johnathon was right, there was a gust of air coming through the crack that was absolutely frigid.

            As they both straightened back up Johnathon stuck his hand in his pocket to try and warm it back up. “We have to find a way inside that room.”

            “An impenetrable lock on a mysterious door, and the threat of being caught by Filch.” Rowan said as he rubbed his chin. “It seems impossible.”

            “That’s the best type of problem.” Johnathon said as loudly as he dared to. “But I’m going to need your help, Rowan.”

            “I’m always glad to help, but—” “Shhh. Someone’s coming!” Whatever else Rowan was going to say was cut off by Johnathon hissing at him, he’d heard another noise echoing through the corridor, this time it was much closer. As they turned around they saw a gray cat running towards them, it’s eyes locking onto the two of them.

            “That looks like Filch’s cat.” Johnathon said, jolting slightly as he heard Rowan yelp as the cat hissed at them before running off.

            “That was Mrs. Norris, she alerts Filch when kids are breaking the rules.” Rowan said, already backing towards the entrance to the corridor.

            “Then let’s get out of here before he shows up. Run!” Johnathon said, not even bothering to be quiet as the two of them broke into a sprint. They ran the entire way back to the Common Room, and by the time they got there, the two of them were breathing so hard they had trouble getting the password out to gain entrance. But once they were back in the safety of the Common Room they bent over and panted as they tried to catch their breath. Eventually they looked at each other, their faces flushed, but smiling in the way that only people who have gotten away with breaking the rules could.

            “I can’t believe we did that.” Rowan said, laughing deliriously as he leaned against a wall for support.

            “I know! It was awesome. But we’re going to need a plan if we’re going to get into that room.” Johnathon said, but Rowan just waved his hand dismissively.

            “We can try and think something up tomorrow, right now I just want to sleep.” He said, pushing himself away from the wall.

            “I get you. Let’s get back to our room.” Johnathon said, slapping Rowan on the back a few times as they headed back towards their room, it was a bit of a hassle to try and change without waking the other boys that they shared a room with, but eventually they managed to do so, and slipped into their beds, both of them sharing a grin with one another before laying their heads down and promptly falling asleep, their bodies and minds both exhausted by what they’d just accomplished.

**Author's Note:**

> Reviews are welcome, but just remember, everybody, just remember to be polite and not say anything you wouldn't be willing to say to someone's face. I certainly hope that this reminder isn't necessary and that you'll all remember to act properly, but better to be safe than sorry.


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